Pancake Rocks

We hit yet another home run with a stop to see and appreciate Punakaiki - Pancake Rocks! Interestingly, the Maori name for this place sounds just like it looks - enormous, petrified stacks of pancakes. Punakaiki actually translates to "the spring where the rocks lie heaped up", but that is descriptive, too. At high tide, you can witness the Blowholes - blasts of water springing up through gaps in the rocks. We arrived on the scene on the downside of blowhole action, but we got the idea.

Hokitika...It Should'a Been a Contender

Halfway up our West Coast drive we found the community of Hokitika. We rely heavily on an excellent travel book published by AA - the travel service equivalent of AAA. Surprisingly, this picturesque community is not among the recommendations in 101 Must-Do's for Kiwis., but it should be.




We stayed at the best Holiday Park of our entire camper van experience - right on the beach, cleanest community kitchen, convenient laundry, and the closest campsite to the ladies toilet. These are no small criteria.




But we found much more to like about this coastal spot than the Shining Star Holiday Park and the glow worm cave right across the road. For one thing, a 20 kilometer drive from town took us to Hokitika Gorge. A pretty wooded path and a walk across a swing bridge provided access to the gorge. If not for the rain, we would have seen brilliant, turquoise blue water instead of the stirred-up greyish water. It was impossible to be disappointed with what we saw.

Back in town, we learned why Hokitika has become internationally renowned as a center of creative arts. We watched artisans polishing and carving pounamu (greenstone or jade) and then make jewelry and ornamental works of art.

The West Coast

Dramatic is perhaps the best adjective to describe our trip up the West Coast of the South Island - and not just because of Tom's driving on the narrow, winding roads. The volatile Tasman Sea, ragged, rocky coastline and grey skies were absolutely beautiful.




We were especially intrigued with works of art people had fashioned out of rocks and driftwood between the beach and the road. We found messages, signatures and monuments made from pillars of stones. Of course, I had to leave my mark.

Glaciers of the Southern Alps

Our drive up the West Coast included a brief look at Fox Glacier and an even better look at Franz Josef Glacier. We joined a virtual parade of sightseers as we walked from the car park, through a short rainforest and on to the base of the glacier.

More often than not, we read about glaciers melting and receding due to global warming. Both the Fox and Franz Josef, however, have been advancing since 1982 due to heavy snowfall in the mountains.

A number of folks were taking guided walks up onto the glacier. Although time restraints didn't allow Thomas Kent and Susan Lynn to walk on the Franz Josef, we got a good look at a whole lot of compressed snow and ice.

Amazing Colors and an Amazing Maze

From Arrowtown we headed north to Wanaka and the lovely lake on which it is situated. Especially in the summer, Lake Wanaka is considered an aquatic playground for anglers, water-skiers, swimmers and boaters of all kinds. We appreciated the fall colors and the charm of this artsy little community.

Tom humored my love of games, puzzles, optical illusions and mazes, and agreed to spend a couple of hours at Wanaka's popular Puzzling World. We both got a kick out of the mind-bending activities - seeing was not believing!

The Gold Valley?

North Idaho has the Silver Valley, but just north of Queenstown we spent some time in Arrowtown and in what I will coin "The Gold Valley."

Arrowtown got its start with the discovery of gold in the basin of the Arrow River, but we discovered gold in the autumn colors in the tree-covered mountains all around us. We spent a few hours in this historic mining town and made sure we ate lunch at the Arrowtown Bakery where you can allegedly find the best pies on the South Island.

New Zealand's Crown Jewel

It didn't take long to understand why so many South Island visitors make Queenstown their primary destination. Often characterized as the "Jewel" in New Zealand's tourism crown, this popular tourist spot is (as Tom noted) "Rotorua on steroids." Visitors can jet boat on the Shotover River, bungy jump, visit wineries, golf in the summer, or ski in the winter. Unfortunately we had very little time in Queenstown, but we managed to take a morning walk through the Queenstown Gardens. The lovely park features multiple varieties of trees, beautiful flower beds, an extensive rose garden, water features, and, of course, an outdoor lawn bowling surface.

Remarkably, I figured out how to take a timed photo in front of The Remarkables.

And Then I Remember