The Punakaiki campsite is beautiful. Located on a rugged strip of smooth pebbly beach, it has amazing views and great ocean sounds. This is another favorite camp spot. After parking Jeff we walked up to Punakaiki Pancake Rocks – a most fantastic site. Massive limestone cliffs mysteriously formed into these thin layers giving it the groovy appearance of layered pancakes.
That evening our camper neighbors invited us for cake to celebrate their oldest daughter’s 5th bday. They are traveling with 4 kids, ages 5 and under, for 4 months in various countries…and you thought we were crazy. After that meeting, anytime I felt like we were having too much together time during the trip I just thought of that wonderful family and reminded myself I could be changing diapers in a caravan.
The following morning was slow and chilly with a lot of hot cocoa and beach strolls. We looked for pounamu (jade – like the heart of Te Fiti in Moana) and ate grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch while Ben and Paula sanded and polished their greenstone.
In the afternoon we had an amazing horse trekking experience. Our awesome guides took us on a trail along a river that we eventually crossed and it was rather deep. We ended on the beach. Incredible. Luke was super cute chilling on his own horse.
After a pancake dinner at the Pancake Cafe we bundled up again for the chilly night while the seagulls danced on the roof of the van. I loved our Punakaiki experience. It was as cute and cozy as I imagined our NZ days to be.
On our way out of town we found a cave and decided to pull over to check it out because that’s what you do when you see a cave. These headlamps are coming in very handy.
