Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP OF CHAPTER
Punakaiki & Paparoa National Park
Located midway between Westport and Greymouth is Punakaiki, a small settlement be-
side the rugged 380-sq-km Paparoa National Park. For most travellers it's a quick stop for
coffee and a squiz at the Pancake Rocks, which is a shame because there's excellent
tramping and other wild adventures, and plenty of accommodation.
Sights
Paparoa National Park is blessed with high cliffs and empty beaches, a dramatic mountain
range, crazy limestone river valleys, diverse flora, and a profusion of birdlife, including
weka and the Westland petrel, a rare sea bird which nests only here.
Pancake Rocks
Punakaiki is famous for its fantastic Pancake Rocks and blowholes. Through a layering-
weathering process called stylobedding, the Dolomite Point limestone has formed into
what looks like piles of thick pancakes. Aim for high tide (tide times are posted at the vis-
itor information centre) when the sea surges into caverns and booms menacingly through
blowholes. See it on a wild day and be reminded that Mother Nature really is the boss. An
easy 15-minute walk loops from the highway out to the rocks and blowholes.
NATURAL FEATURE
Activities
Tramps around Punakaiki include the
Truman Track
(30 minutes return) and the
Pun-
akaiki-Porari Loop
(3½ hours), which goes up the spectacular limestone Pororari River gorge
before popping over a hill and coming down the bouldery Punakaiki River to rejoin the
highway.
Surefooted types can embark on the
Fox River Cave Walk
(three hours return), 12km north
of Punakaiki and open to amateur explorers. BYO torch and sturdy shoes.
Other tramps in the national park are detailed in the DOC
Paparoa National Park
pamphlet ($1), and include the
Inland Pack Track
(two to three days), a route established by
miners in 1866 to bypass difficult coastal terrain.
As many of Paparoa's inland walks are susceptible to river flooding it is vital that you
obtain updates from the DOC visitor centre (
Click here
)
in Punakaiki before you depart.
