The Coast Road

Paparoa National Park

The Coast Road, as the name indicates, follows the west coast, and the sea is within sight nearly the entire way. The park is a fairly small one, by New Zealand standards, about 30,000 ha. It protects the unique landscape, particularly the coastline, that is the result of the predominant lime stone rock foundations of this part of the South Island. Caves, dramatic overhangs and huge, spectacular bluffs abound here, as do lovely beaches, such as this one.

In the background, you can see the Southern Alps peeping over the horizon.

Tauranga Bay

Our first stop was just outside Westport, where southern fur seals can be seen all year round. These chubby creatures were threatened by extinction a few decades ago, but today they are protected and populations have flourished. Now, I am fully aware that this picture can serve no other purpose than to show how extraordinarily well camouflaged the seals are. Let it not be said that I didn't try.

Seals may not seem like very exciting beasts, but they are quite extraordinary. They can dive to over 130 m, and once there, they can stay under for over half an hour. They can even sleep under water - they come up to breathe now and then without even waking up! (How anyone has managed to find this out boggles the imagination). They also make extraordinary noises - kind of like rusty bicycle pumps.

There are seals in this picture. Promise.

"Come here, you daft thing, so we can get a picture of this extraordinary encounter with Nature."

Birdie nam-nam

In the carpark, we met some charming birds, called wekas. (Some of their relatives on Cape Foulwind had played a dastardly trick on us the night before by taking advantage of the darkness and pretending to be kiwis, duly setting our hearts aflutter with unfounded excitement).

They are wild, but like some other of New Zealand's birds they are quite fearless and will take bread or other goodies from your hand. (In fact, they will take the fingers from your hand if you're not careful). There were actually two of them about, but there seemed to be some internal weka stuff going on between them - there were some strange vibes, man - so only one got all the food.

Punakaiki

The 'pancake rocks' at Punakaiki are the main touristified attraction on this entire coastline, as indicated by the gift shops, cafes and Kiwi Experience buses, spewing out spotty German teenagers and stoned American jocks all over the car park. (Don't even get me started on the Swedish lasses). Their presence, however, does not make the actual rock formations any less remarkable, and we spent a pleasant half-hour roaming the walkways and viewing terraces, kindly supplied by the Department of Conservation.

The pancake rocks are so called because they look like great stacks of pancakes (doh). Great columns of these formations rise from the beaches, and underneath there are caves where the waves come crashing in, making booming, hollow sounds. It is all rather amazing, particularly when you think that it is an ongoing process - one day, a storm, and bang, some pancakes fall off or there's a whole new cave.

I know you're pretty. Now get away from the pancakes, you lens-louse.

Blowholes, formed by the waves, are another feature of this area.

The DoC walkway runs right along the top of that 'bridge'.

Stormy weather

Some miles south of Hokitika, the weather changed, and this black beach was a dramatic and slightly scary sight, with its grey, crashing waves - waves that could have picked up a bus as if it was a pine cone. It was incredibly windy, and it rained, and I returned to the car after taking this picture soaking wet and completely blown through.

Pounamou

Greymouth and Hokitika, two of the main towns along the coast, are among the best places in the country to check out greenstone carving, and perhaps buy some. This entire stretch of coast is rich in this mineral, a variety of jade, or nephrite to the geologically informed, known to the Maori as pounamou. Maori have always placed great value on the stone, as indicated by the fact that it was traded all the way up to Northland even a thousand years ago, and use it for objects of great value and spiritual significance, like pendants and combs, and even weapons such as clubs. Pendants in the traditional X shape would be passed down the generations, increasing in mana(power, authority, value) each time, which they conferred on their wearers.

Today greenstone jewellery is still very popular, particularly with tourists, and available in a myriad shapes, apart from the traditional spirals, fish hooks, or tiki (amulet in the shape of a spirit or god) shapes. (You can see a tiki in the banner image on the home page). The stone comes in all sorts of shades of green, from deep, bluish jade to creamy olive and almost white.

This glacier has advanced at a rate of about 1 m per day for the last 17 years. Now global warming threatens it.

The Glaciers

We arrived in Franz Josef (one of two towns named after their big icy neighbours - the other one is Fox Glacier) around nightfall, and dumped our stuff at the rather grandly named Chateau Franz Joseph. (As usual, all the hostel staff were young, male and gorgeous). We went in search of food, an endeavour that was destined to end in tears and gnashing of teeth, as the best food place turned out to be at the end of the street, and we had already given in to a greasy spoon a hundred yards before.

Anyway, Selina and I spent some time in Alice May's planning exactly how we would see the glacier the next day - tramp? Helicopter? Snowshoes? Llama train? and went to bed with great expectations. Sadly, the morning dawned in a cloud, and with a steady drizzle that put paid to all our plans.

As we didn't have time to wait out the weather, we decided to head on into the Alps. The mountains kept getting taller and steeper, the air colder, the roads more ridiculous. And the place names... take me to the Valley of Darkness.