west coast - July 5, 2010

I have a few days off from work so I decided to get out of town and see the sights. Yesterday I drove through the spine of the island over Arthur's Pass. It takes about four hours to get from one side of the island to the other. People drive like maniacs. The stereo in my car is archaic and has a cassette tape permanently jammed in it. It only picks up a couple of stations. Apparently, the only thing broadcast on Sunday afternoons is horse racing. A rugby game came on later, so I listened to that.

I leafed through the Lonely Planet and decided to stop in this one-horse town (maybe that's a bit generous) called Punakaiki. It has a few places to stay and a tavern.

After a night's sleep in a hostel on the beach, I set out for a hike in the surrounding national park. It's really rugged, with a few trails hacked out of an otherwise impenetrable wilderness. I first stopped at the tourist information office for some intel. The woman gave me a worthless map and suggested a trail. She told me to make sure to leave my plans with someone in case something went wrong. I didn't know who to leave plans with. The only person I know is the seemingly stoned hostel proprietor.

I started walking and the trail went into a rainforest/jungle. It's a blue-sky day but it was very dark inside the forest. Droplets of water dripped from the canopy above in a steady rain. It was pretty cold, maybe 50 degrees. There were signs posted that said make sure to stay on the trail, or you might fall into a hole/chasm. Sure enough, as I walked along I saw deep abysses in the forest floor, hidden by dense ferns. I guess the ground is mostly karst/limestone and the water erodes passages underneath. It is pretty otherworldly and I thought perhaps I might see into a dragon.

I walked for miles, not seeing anyone, and finally emerged on a disused road. I walked down the road for a few miles back to town. I startled a deer which ran off. It was about the size of a Great Dane. I also saw a weird bird, I think it's called a weka. It's about the size of a grouse. It was walking around the ground and yanking tufts of grass and rocks out with its beak, maybe looking for worms/grubs. It didn't appear to be able/interested in flying. It seemed rather worthless.

The main attraction here is these "pancake rocks" which have been eroded by the ocean. In summer tour buses stop and everybody gets out for a few minutes and snaps a picture. I haven't seen them yet so I'm going to walk over there shortly. The ocean seems a bit ferocious today. It is very loud and rolls into the beach with some force. There is a pretty strong breeze which blows the mist off the whitecaps.

I believe I can safely scratch this place off the list. Tomorrow I think I'm going to go back up to Arthur's Pass and do some hiking around the mountains there.