The Middle of Nowhere

After our session on the water we started the huge drive down to Punakaiki, and while the boys dozed I enjoyed an idyllic drive through some of my favourite scenery from the trip - along the Owen River, which meanders its way through broad, flat flood plains fringed by beautiful banks of verdant willows and other trees, tumbling its wide, golden-clear waters over a shallow pebbly bed and sandy shores. A few homestay guesthouses along its course would have made a fabulous place to stop off and enjoy the area, but just to drive through with the company of my own thoughts and two silent passengers was an incredible lovely experience.

The scenery changed as we entered the Buller Gorge - striking rather than tranquil, but equally beautiful. Here turquiose waters pour through a dramatic forested valley, churning over rocks and creating dramatic flashes of contrasting colour as you drive along its course. We stopped to cross the hairy Buller Gorge Suspension Bridge and stretch our legs with a little stroll through the forest on the other side and then pressed on towards the coast.

When we arrived in Punakaiki the weather had closed in and the stormy grey sky, choppy sea and chilly, horizontal rain were more than anti-climactic. Then discovering that all shops and eateries in the vicinity were closed and the nearest supermarket a 50 minute drive away we nearly despaired, but we managed to cobble together a meal by buying up the entirety of the meagre offerings behind reception (along the lines of tuna, instant noodles, beans and an egg). The evening was utterly redeemed by our discovery of a fabulous hot-tub on the lawn where I soaked for an hour and a half, the cold wind and rain and the brooding sea view making the warmth and comfort even more enjoyable!

The following morning the weather was just as grim so we forsook a visit to the nearby 'Pancake Rocks' (I don't know ... if you go, let me know!) and, via breakfast in the impossibly uninspiring Greymouth, headed towards an afternoon trek on the Fox Glacier.

written by

Alex Kent on December 11, 2007 from Punakaiki, New Zealand

from the travel blog: On the Varieties of Nature

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