Punakaiki, Pancake Rocks
The Pancake Rocks is a favorite stop for anybody travelling
down the west coast through Punakaiki. It consists of some magical geological
rock forms, which are layered like all you can eat pancakes. There are also
some blowholes from the sea crashing into the rocks below. It only takes about
45 minutes to walk the little path from the highway to the ocean, and stare at
the amazing coastal scenery, north and south, as far as the eye can see.
As I travel farther south, the mountain ranges get bigger
and bigger, until they become the Southern Alps. Soon enough, I can see snow
capped mountains, despite the weather being quite warm at the base.
The two main glaciers to stop and see on the west coast are
Franz Joseph and Fox. Both are protected
as National Parks and have many maintained hiking trails, lasting anywhere
between 1-10 hours.
I arrived at Franz Joseph just before sundown and was
leaving early the next day. This meant I had to leave immediately to start my
hike. As it turns out, it was raining (It rains something like 300+ days a year
here). So I grabbed my umbrella and the front desk gave me a head torch,
telling me not to get lost, (despite the glacier and snowy mountains, Franz Josef is considered a rain forest) It was a about an hour hike just to get to the
start of the trails from the hostel in town. Luckily, it stopped raining after
the first twenty minutes. It was almost dark by the time I started, mainly due
to the low clouds perched over head. As soon as I entered the woods, it got
real dark. Luckily I was given a head torch.
Completed the hour hike in about 40 minutes. The view I had once I reached the finish point was eerie cool. Even at night, in a valley surrounded by soaring mountains with a ceiling of clouds, it was something to see. My pictures could have been better if I had known how to adjust the exposure and other settings, but hey, I’m new to the whole camera thing.
Franz Josef Glacier
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