Friday, December 1st – Wrapping up Day #2 (this was our longest day in NZ, for sure!)
Alright! Fast forward and we have arrived at our beach house on Motukiekie Beach, nested just north of Greymouth.
^Looking up above our beach house; that’s a massive rock!!
^Previous collection of driftwood along the shore…
^Check out this view from the back deck of our beach house!
^Out our back door, lots o’ green – herbs and flowers!
We were glad we made it in time to enjoy the beach during the 3 hour window outside of the low tide. Per tide tables low tide was at 3:33pm. (Thanks to our AirBnB host Kees for the heads up!) At any time of day the beach toward the north can be walked but only during low tide can you walk south all the way to 10 Mile Creek (and we’re not talking Pensacola, folks!). We began on our trek knowing time was of the essence…but then, OUCH! little bloody buggars (actually, sand flies…but if you felt the chomp from one of these you’d be cursing too). I thought dangit! The host had suggested we bring bug spray but we left it back up at the beach house. I looked at Adam, thinking “go get it.” He hesitated but ended up walking back. Usually he’s the only one between the two of us that is bothered by bugs but today I was too. I guess it’s different on the other side of the world! We were both SO GLAD he turned back. It took a few minutes away from our time on the beach but I’m pretty sure the little sand flies could have turned paradise into hell.
^Starting out on our walk.
As we walked along the shore the scenery changed, we saw sea caves, all kinds of different rocks and driftwood, birds. Part of the walk we had to balance and hop from rock to rock. At other times we would walk through the black sand, it was so fine and a little mushy in places. Much different than the pure white sands we have back home.
^That’s a girl on a mission: Mission Mussels
^Thumbs up!? No waaayyy…
We had our eyes out for mussels. Our AirBnB host left us a note saying that we may be able to harvest them at low tide – the limit was 50 mussels. At first we thought we wouldn’t be able to find enough, then GOLDMINE!
^One of several sea caves we passed.
^Got a random person on the beach to take our picture…there weren’t many!
^Inside a sea cave; look how all the different rocks have been compressed together.
^Looking from the outside in of a sea cave. Yup, the sea was up in here not too many hours before and would be back in here after not too long. Amazing.
^The coastline just keeps coming and coming…we could have walked forever.
^I believe above rock called “Chief’s Head”…looked like a head from almost any angle. Kinda cool!
^So many brilliant colors and textures to take in!
^I kinda wanted to take all these rocks home…
We were so overwhelmed with the size of our surroundings…talk about feeling small. Look at these next two pictures to give you maybe a glimpse of the awesomeness of it all!
^The world at his fingertips…
^Yup! I spy Angela!!
Check this out! …this next one is for our Fishing Forum Friends. So, New Zealand is known for its green-lipped mussels. This particular beach is home to these delicious creatures. We were able to grab our limit of 50 while on our hike (Angela took the lead and carried the bag of mussels the entire hike. Adam had the backpack with the camera and a few beers). Teamwork!! Once we got back from our stroll on the beach, Adam cleaned and boiled these little creatures. As soon as they were out of the pot, both members of Team AA devoured these little delicacies.
^This is the beginnings of the green-lipped mussels; little babies all clumped up together!
^Adam cleaning the mussels before cooking.
^A work in progress; let’s see how this turns out!
^Beautiful! New Zealand Green-lipped mussels.
But wait, the day ain’t over yet! On a last minute whim, we decided to get back into the car and drive about 30 minutes north toward Punakaiki, to go catch the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes that are famous in this neck of the woods.
^The rainforest-feeling path down to the pancake rocks.
^New Zealand palm trees are pretty neat looking.
^The Blowholes
^Pancake Rocks – Punakaiki, West Coast, NZ
^Looks at all those pancakes!
^Bridge crossing over blowholes. Since we made it out here near low tide the explosion of water crashing up into the rocks wasn’t as great as it would have been at high tide, but was still awesome!
After making our way through the path leadingto the thunderous waves breaking upon the towering rock formations that resembled something like stacked pancakes, we stumbled upon the Pancake Rock Cafe.
^Pancake Rocks Cafe – Punakaiki, West Coast, NZ
This was what one might call a hippie hang out (not to be confused with a hipster cafe). This place was giving off the organic mindset, local vibe. So, we decided to grab a beer, order a pizza to go (people here love them some pizza), and listen to the live music. In the middle of a set, a local boy (maybe 10 or 11) decide to grab the mic and do a little card magic. It was entertaining to say the least.
After the magic show, we had a few minutes to run back out to the Pancake Rocks to catch the sunset. If you’ve never seen the sunset off the coast of New Zealand, we’d suggest you put it on your list.
Once the sun went down we headed about a mile more north to grab a bottle of wine and head home. Back at the beach house, we listened to the waves breaking on the shore and against the rocks, drank our wine and caught up on our blog. It’s was a very packed day. Then…Oh, what’s that? We look out the sliding glass door and see something that wasn’t there before – it’s small, squarish and dark green in color. Could it be, could it possibly be?
^IT IS! It really is – our lost bag somehow found its way to our back porch!!!! Hip-hip hooray !!!!
^Last views before the sun sinks from our beach house.
Check back for our next drive and adventure in Hokitika – the Jade Capital of New Zealand!
No Comments