MG 7869

South Island: Westport to Hokitika

All packed at Westport we headed south, first stop back at Punakaiki. Through blind luck we timed our visit with high tide which meant we got to see some blow hole action. Getting photos was proving to be troublesome, in the end we resorted to patience and simply waited until the waves got the right force and timing to push the water up the limestone tubes.

MG 7869Photo by Brendon & Keryn

Punakaiki blow hole in action.

Naturally being daytime there were a lot more people around. Back at the road three weka were making nuisances of themselves by walking slowly over the road and not being in any hurry to avoid oncoming traffic. We had a look through the shops but already things are starting to look very samey, hardly a surprise but most tourist orientated shops seem to have the same things for sale.

We next stopped to take a walk just before Greymouth. The Coal Creek Falls walk starts from a cul-de-sack in the town Runanga. Walking steadily downhill the track stopped at the Coal Creek Falls so naturally I took a few photos. There was a flowering fuchsia at the falls so we got some photos of the little purple flowers as well.

MG 7911Photo by Brendon & Keryn

Coal Creek Falls.

MG 7927Photo by Brendon & Keryn

Fuchsia flower.

The final walk was at the isolated Woods Creek Walking Track (which I’m having trouble locating on a map, Keryn’ll probably find it). A walk through pretty forest there are many interesting mining features to be seen with deep trenches and tunnels found next to the track, remnants from gold mining activity in the 19th century. Exploring caves we found cave weta and spiders as well as lots of darkness. The track had a lot of steps and a swing bridge, the bridge interesting as it wasn’t fastened to the ground, the whole bridge suspended without ground attachment (when someone stood on the bridge their weight was enough to push the base onto the ground at each end for a bit of extra stability).

MG 7981Photo by Brendon & Keryn

Cave weta.

MG 7987Photo by Brendon & Keryn

Keryn in a cave.

MG 8001Photo by Brendon & Keryn

Fast becoming the Keryn show, herself on the bridge.

MG 8008-2Photo by Brendon & Keryn

I did take some family shots in this tunnel but they didn’t really work, so you’re stuck with Keryn again.

Once finished on the track and done with pieces of both lemon and ginger slice (which I should mention were made by Keryn and Elaine in Westport once Keryn’s original supply ran out) we were off to another Marram cottage, this time in Hokitika.

Posts created 875

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Related Posts

Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel.

Back To Top