Pancakes and Hokitika

I woke up early this morning and so went to sit in the lounge area to look out at the sea as the sun was rising. It was so calming and such a nice way to wake up. After a shower and breakfast of porridge with mixed berry jam and banana we packed up the car and drove five minutes down the road to the Pancake rocks. We parked up and did the little fifteen minute walk past these fantastic rocks that look like pancakes stacked on top of each other. They're rather remarkable and wouldn't look out of place in somewhere like Angkor. It's not actually known how the rocks form like this but it's amazing that they naturally did. The sea around them is powerful and crashes up, bashing against the rocks, even spurting out of blow holes when the tide is in. There is no way anyone would survive if they climbed down the rocks to where the sea comes in, that's how powerful the water is. The sky was clear blue which I think made these rocks even more impressive. We went into the Pancake rocks gift shop before we moved on and ended up investing in a lovely flask (it only cost $10) for those cold times when a cup of hot tea is necessary. 

Back in the car we drove on down the rest of the coat road to Greymouth, the largest down on the west coast. We walked round for a little bit until Matt decided he needed a hair cut. I thought we'd make the best use of our time if I went to the supermarket while he found a barbers and so I set out to buy tea for the next few nights. We met back up outside the supermarket and drove off with our shopping and Matt's newly cut hair. There wasn't anything to see in Greymouth but just beyond it we stopped at a little beach to eat our lunch. I'd treated us to some pikelets (mini pancakes) as well so after our sandwiches we happily munched a couple of them with jam. 

Beyond the coast road, but still on the coast, was a little town called Hokitika which we decided would be our stopping place for tonight. Once we got to the town we went straight out of it again because we wanted to see the blue gorge. Twenty minutes from Hokitika we parked and did the little walk across a swing bridge and down to the waters edge. The gorge was amazingly blue and shone in the sunlight. We put our hands in the water and discovered how icy cold it was. We chose not to swim but a couple of brave people did go in in their underwear. We heard their screams as we walked back up to the bridge. 

Back in Hokitika we found a cheap enough hostel and checked in, leaving our car parked there so we could walk round the town. We bought a little map of the town from the i-site for 50 cent and walked about, exploring all of the old buildings and statues. Of course, we had to buy an ice cream when we passed an ice cream shop. I had hokey pokey which was very tasty. I must make some more ice cream when I'm home. We ended up at the beach and, once we'd walked past the fabulous Hokitika sign made out of sticks, we stopped at sunset point (a big boat on land with picnic benches inside) to look out to sea for a little bit. However, it started to get cold and we started to get hungry so we headed back to the hostel to make tea. Tea tonight was another stir fry which failed to excite me. Maybe this was because there wasn't enough lime and chilli sauce to coat the vast amount of noodles we had. However, we did have a salmon fillet each on top (I'd found them reduced in the supermarket) which was delicious. I'd forgotten how good salmon tastes! We finished it all (well, Matt did) and sat in the lounge to watch Napolean Dynamite which I have never seen before. A nice end to a lovely day. We hadn't done anything super exciting but I think we'd just both been in rather cheerful moods for some unknown reason.