New Zealand - Day 1 & 2 (Christchurch - Greymouth - Punakaiki - Hokitika)

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It was end of autumn and beginning of winter when we went to South Island, New Zealand last year. The weather was excellent. We travelled from Kuala Lumpur to Christchurch, New Zealand by Air Asia and it took us approximately 10 hours to reached there. It was almost midnight when we reached Christchurch International Airport. On arrival we stayed at Airport Lodge Motel. I can still remember the air was so fresh the moment we stepped out of the airport. The temperature was below 10'C.   
 
We rented an eight seaters 2009 model Estima for 8 days (car rental from Hertz: $865) that took us 2,100km across South Island, New Zealand. We collected the car from the airport the next day. We started our journey as early as 8am after we had our maggi mee and bread for our breakfast.
 
On our way to Hokitika, we drove past Arthur's Pass. The snowcap mountain view was magnificent. We stopped by the roadside to snap some photos and to take a deep breath of the fresh air. The temperature was freezing cold. We dropped by Bonzai Pizza Restaurant in Greymouth for our lunch. The pizza was cheesy and delicious. 
 
After our lunch, we proceed our journey to Punakaiki which is the famous pancake rocks and blowholes. So, what is the nature's pancake recipe? The reasons why some limestone are layered still have geologists guessing. Formally it was believed that sea currents has shuffled material into alternate layers of hard limestones and soft mudstone during the deposition phase. Now it is generally agreed that the layers are the result of a secondary process called "stylobedding" but some details remain a mystery. (Stylobedding - after being burried and compacted, grains of shell and skeleton were put under such immense pressure that they passed into solution. For reasons still unclear, some minerals merged to form thin seams of mudstone between layers of limestone) The forces of sea and weather during the pass 100,000 years have eroded the mudstone more than the limestone, enhancing the "pancake" effect.  
 
We continued our journey to Hokitika and stayed at Mountain Jade Backpackers after spending few hours at the pancake rocks and blowholes. We had our dinner at Stumpers Bar & Cafe. Click here to read more about the cafe. Night came in early and we decided to call it a day...

 
Estima from Hertz

 
Arthur's Pass - New Zealand
 
 
Arthur's Pass - New Zealand

 
Entrance to the Pancake Rocks - it was drizzling when we reached Punakaiki


Pancake rocks blowholes walk

 
 Punakaiki
 
 
 Does it look like a human head?

 
 Pancake rocks
 
 
Pancake rocks
 
 
Pancake rocks
 
 
Pancake rocks
 
 
Blowholes - high-tide waves surge into caves, trapping air and forcing spray through roof fissures with a spectacular blowhole effect 
 
 
What do you see?
 
 
Can you see it?
 
 

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