We decided to leave Kaiteriteri and travel a day earlier towards our next destination.So off we went to get from the northeastern portion of the South Island and travel through the mountains to the west coast.Ah, the West Coast—I think that west coasts all over the world offer something really unique (at least the west coasts that I know) and, from what we have heard the west coast of New Zealand is really something to behold.

Our journey, indeed, was incredible—almost indescribable, but I will try.

We traveled in the rain the whole time.Not only rain, but heavy low clouds, as well.Choices of how to respond to this had to be made.We could either lament our bad luck or decide to make the best of this particular situation.Of course, we chose the latter and the journey now became magical.As our vista was limited, the scenery that we were able to see was outstanding.We climbed up twisting mountains and through low cloud cover, we spied mountain streams and foliage that just knocked our socks off! Stunning, that is what Debbie and I both expressed to each other—the landscape was stunning.I did not know that there were so many shades of green.The diversity of plants astounded me—from confers to palms and more.Each turn was more spectacular than the last.Up and up we climbed til our ears were popping and then we would head down and it felt like a slalom run on a ski slope.We traveled under a canopy of trees and through the misty mountains.Finally we reached the shore of the wild Tasman Sea, with its pounding surf against the rugged coastline.Jutting out from the surf were wonderful rock sculptures that Nature just seemed to plop here and there and, although random, each one seemed to find its perfect place.We arrived at our destination of Punakaiki.Punakaiki is famous for its fantastic Pancake Rocks and blowholes.Through a layering-weathering process called stylobedding, the Dolomite Point limestone has formed into what looks like piles of thick pancakes.When the tide is right, the water surges into caverns and booms out of the blowholes.We decided to save the exploration of this area until the morning and hope that the weather will clear a little for better viewing.We did pop down to the sea at sunset to take some beautiful photos.

We decided to leave Kaiteriteri and travel a day earlier towards our next destination.So off we went to get from the northeastern portion of the South Island and travel through the mountains to the west coast.Ah, the West Coast—I think that west coasts all over the world offer something really unique (at least the west coasts that I know) and, from what we have heard the west coast of New Zealand is really something to behold.

Our journey, indeed, was incredible—almost indescribable, but I will try.

We traveled in the rain the whole time.Not only rain, but heavy low clouds, as well.Choices of how to respond to this had to be made.We could either lament our bad luck or decide to make the best of this particular situation.Of course, we chose the latter and the journey now became magical.As our vista was limited, the scenery that we were able to see was outstanding.We climbed up twisting mountains and through low cloud cover, we spied mountain streams and foliage that just knocked our socks off! Stunning, that is what Debbie and I both expressed to each other—the landscape was stunning.I did not know that there were so many shades of green.The diversity of plants astounded me—from confers to palms and more.Each turn was more spectacular than the last.Up and up we climbed til our ears were popping and then we would head down and it felt like a slalom run on a ski slope.We traveled under a canopy of trees and through the misty mountains.Finally we reached the shore of the wild Tasman Sea, with its pounding surf against the rugged coastline.Jutting out from the surf were wonderful rock sculptures that Nature just seemed to plop here and there and, although random, each one seemed to find its perfect place.We arrived at our destination of Punakaiki.Punakaiki is famous for its fantastic Pancake Rocks and blowholes.Through a layering-weathering process called stylobedding, the Dolomite Point limestone has formed into what looks like piles of thick pancakes.When the tide is right, the water surges into caverns and booms out of the blowholes.We decided to save the exploration of this area until the morning and hope that the weather will clear a little for better viewing.We did pop down to the sea at sunset to take some beautiful photos.