Punakaiki and Pancake Rocks

Our next stop was Punakaiki, driving north from Graymouth along the west coast overlooking the Tasmin Sea.  The ocean was angry with the wind and the surf was pounding the narrow black sandy beach. Thus drive reminded us of the drive north out of Seattle where the sea hits the mountains.  

Punakaiki in Maori means "the spring from the pile of rocks".  It is part of the Paparoa National Park.  This area was well traveled by the Maori searching for the jade stone which has spiritual significance to them.

 The term "pancake rocks" comes from the narrow strata in the stone, layering created by immense pressure on alternating alternating hard and soft layers of marine creatures and plant sediments.

There was a stone bridge of limestone where the waves had carved our a basin.  

There were also "blowholes" where the ocean waves had eroded channels into the stone wall.  When the tide is high, crashing wave water channels up through the rock and rises like a smoke signal from the rock above. 

We could not believe the weather this afternoon.  It was raining when we left the house so we had borrowed an umbrella from Mary. When we got out of the car and walked out on the rocks, the wind was very strong and suddenly the rain turned into hail.  So we were then being showered by icy peas. As we found the wind, the umbrella flipped inside out and broke several of the spokes.  This was so funny that I could not control my laughing out loud after that.  

There do not seem to be any Walmarts in Nw Zealand, but the next best thing is their Warehouse stores.  This is where we when to get a replacement umbrella for Mary.

We also saw an amazing example of the mountains caused by earthquakes.  See the strata in this mountain side - strata that would have been formed level and then was pushed up on one end as an earth plate shifted.  

By the way, the rain on these pictures is real... just could keep the lens dry with the driving wind, rain and hail!  What an adventure!