Places



Punakaiki


This post was published on Wednesday 23 January 2019.

After Greymouth we drove a short way up the West Coast, along the ‘Great Coast Road’. It’s supposed to be one of the best roads in NZ... but I have to say, we were underwhelmed! It wasn’t the weather (though it was very grey) – the road only goes close to the actual shoreline in sections – for much of it, the coast is hidden by trees!

Anyway, as we drove into Punakaiki we passed Punakaiki Resort – which wasn’t the place we had planned to stay, but looked a lot nicer. We were both still very tired from Lake Tekapo (getting up 2-3 times a night to see if the clouds had cleared enough to see the stars – they never did), so we decided a night in a nice place would do us good. Here’s the view from the room...

We decided to book it, and then headed on to Pancake Rocks – but more of that in the next post.

Having a room instead of a campground meant – luxury of luxuries – a sofa! Not being able to sit up in the van except in the driver or passenger seat hasn’t been good for my back – so being able to lounge on a sofa felt very luxurious.

We cooked and ate in the room as well that evening, so we could look out over the view. The sandflies were a nuisance – as ever on the West Coast – so Jess first hid from them, and then armoured herself against them (!)...

The room had a genius idea: magnetic mosquito netting for the windows, so you can open the windows wide, clip the netting over the opening, and have fresh air without worrying about mosquitoes (or sandflies) spoiling the evening.

And, facing West (as the West Coast does), the sunset over the (Tasman) Sea was rather special...