Pancake Rocks

The community of Punakaiki lies on the coast road between the towns of Westport and Greymouth. It has become a must to stop here, not just for refreshments and a toilet break but for the amazing natural phenomenon known as pancake rocks. There is roadside parking and  car park then across the road a walkway will take you on a circuit to see both the rock and the blowholes. It takes around 20 minutes to complete but there is no rush and you can take all the time you need. There is no charge for either parking or the walkway.

Geologists know that the rocks are made of limestone and were formed from the remains of sea creatures around 35 million years ago. What they can’t fully explain is why they are in layers.  The current idea put forward is that there harder limestone layers with are separated by softer layers made from mud. These softer layers erode more easily to create the pancake layering we can see today. This is phenomenon is called stylobedding.

The action of the sea has created rock formations that look very precarious and blowholes that, depending on the state of the tide, suddenly erupt with crashing waves.

The rocks are in a state of constant erosion by the sea and no doubt some will come crashing down and other new formations will appear. Pancake rocks are an amazing sight and well worth half an hour or so on the journey south.

Driving the West Coast

The drive from Nelson in the north of the South Island to Queenstown in the south is one of the greatest road trips in New Zealand if not the world. The scenery along the way is dominated by the Southern Alps and The Tasman Sea. In between there are rain forests, rivers, lakes, pastures, and hardly any human habitation. Indeed most of the vehicles on the road in the summer are fellow travellers. The drive is just short of 900Km and does not need to be rushed as there are many things to see and do along the way. There are a number of ways to break up the journey depending on how much time you have available, we did it over four days which I think is about the absolute minimum.

Day 1.      Nelson to Hokitika

Day 2.     Hokitika to Franz Josef

Day 3.     Franz Josef to Wanaka

Day 4.     Wanaka to Queenstown

The following photographs are in the order taken travelling down the coast.

Wellington Craft Beer

It seem that everywhere you go in Wellington there is either a craft brewery or a cafe/bar/restaurant with an exceptional range of craft beers. With only 36 hours in Wellington this post probably only touches the tip of the iceberg of the craft beer scene in the city.

Mac’s Green Beret IPA 5.4% Amber/Gold, clear, light head, citrus, grapefruit, touch of caramel. Very drinkable.

Mac’s Interstate APA  5.0% Amber,clear with little or no head.Low/medium bitterness. Full flavour and refreshing.

Mac’s Great White 5% Wheatbeer. Yellow, cloudy, good head. Lovely flavours of tropical fruit, banana and bubblegum. Nice texture. A nice drink.

Mac’s Hoprocker 5% Yellow/gold in appearance, refreshing pilsner style beer.

Mac’s Sassy Red 4.5% Dark amber in colour, nice malty, caramel flavour, low bitterness.

Parrotdog Bitterbitch IPA 5.8% Named after the problems associated with controlling the bitterness one early brews this is an amber beer, slight haze, light head. yeasty, malty, nice bitterness, hoppy, full flavoured. very nice.

The Garage Project. The Pernicious Weed 8%  Golden, slight haze, light head, full flavourIntensely hoppy but balanced with a nice touch of caramel. A fine beer.

Fortune Favours The Nine Nine APA 5% Pale amber, slight haze, crisp, clean, low bitterness. Nice easy drinking style.

Fortune Favours The Adventurer 5% Pilsner, yellow/gold,  low bitterness,  touch of caramel. Refreshing, you could drink a lot of this. Very good.

Te Aro. Pilsner 5.1% Golden, clear, good head. Lemon, quite rich in style, smokey, full flavour.

Brewmoon. Hophead Pale Ale 5% Amber,clear, no head at all. Low bitterness, caramel/malty. easy drinking style.