Peaks and Places | Travel and Adventure Blog

Travelling down the West Coast led to some not so fun weather. It was dark, gloomy, and stormy as we made it to Greymouth for the night. Here we encountered some of the largest waves either Eric or myself have ever seen. They were rough, cresting over the sea walls and spraying us with saltwater. Our campsite, unfortunately for us, was a parking lot that lined right up to the beach. It was by far the worst nights sleep either of us have had thus far. Not only was the rain pounding the van on all sides, but the wind was tearing across the parking lot, shaking our little red van every time. I had dreams of the van tipping over, floating out to sea with us in it. We both vowed to never stay at that particular freedom campsite again (although, I’m sure it is stunning in nice weather and would have an unreal sunset).

The next morning, both very tired and maybe a little grumpy, we decided to head to pancake rocks. I had been before, in 2019 when I spent four weeks studying abroad in the South Island, and knew it would be right up Eric’s alley. The weather was still unpleasant, rainy, and windy, but that, I knew, was going to work in our favor at this particular stop.

When we arrived and Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes, it was still drizzling slightly, but overall, was much better weather than either of us had expected. We begun our walk, and the wind immediately picked up, which led to an impressive walk through the pancake-shaped limestone formations along the coastline. The rough water caused the blowholes, which are created from a mixture of compressed water and air that needs to escape from the caverns below and is forced upward in an impressive spray, to become even more impressive. We were getting pelted with what I originally thought was rain, but after licking my now salty lips, I realized was actually ocean spray.

The walk was short, and took us about twenty minutes, but was so impressive and the rock formations are unlike anything we’ve ever seen. No one really knows why they formed in these particular formations, but the running theory is the combination of mildly acidic rain, wind, and seawater all worked together to form these bizarre shapes.

There is a cafe nearby that sells pancakes, and while I have gotten the pancakes here before and would highly recommend, we decided to skip it this time around simply due to the price being a little too high for our currently unemployed selves. However, if you’re visiting the area, I would recommend making the stop and chatting to the locals while enjoying your Pancakes and Pancake Rocks.