Today was the first day of the hiking/kayaking tour, and this
morning I met up with the members of the group - 12 of us in total. After
some brief introductions we set out on the 4.5 hour car ride over to the west
coast of NZ’s southern island. It didn’t take long to clear the edge of
the Canterbury plains and start climbing towards Arthur’s Pass. Not
too far up into the foothills we hit Castle Hill, a popular spot for rock
climbing and bouldering.
Along the drive the scenery was breathtaking. Here’s a small
sample:
Near the top of the pass we stopped to stretch our legs and take a
brief (1 hour roundtrip) hike up to view Devil’s Punchbowl Falls.
Our first hike as a group behind us, we continued down the pass
towards the west coast. When we reached the Tasman Sea, we stopped again
to stretch our legs and dip our feet into the ocean. The water was
surprisingly warm.
Within short order we arrived in Punakaiki at our beachfront
cottage accommodations, and enjoyed dinner before heading to the main
attraction of Punakaiki, the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes.
Day 1 turned out to be pretty great. Looking forward to the
next 10 days!
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