West Coast and Nelson Lakes National Park

Hello,
from Greymouth we continued along the West Coast. After the first hour in the car, we reached one of our destinations for the day, the Pancake Rocks. These rocks, which rise out of the sea like stacked pancakes, look like overlapping pancakes. After a walk among the rocks along the sea, we took a longer hike through a nearby valley, over rivers, up a big mountain, and then along a beautiful path lined with trees and rocks along the wide river. Once we reached the car, we continued on to the town of Westport. Here, we replenished our water supplies and bought the essentials for the next two days at the supermarket. We settled down for the evening at a free campsite 20 km north of Westport. The nearby beach offered us a beautiful view of the sea at sunset. The hot coffee in the morning was invigorating after a cool night, and so we continued our journey to the national park and the start of the Heaphy Track. Upon arrival, we started a nearly 3-hour hike and reached a long and very wide sandy beach at the end. The waves were meters high, and the sea roared loudly in the bright sunshine. The return journey through the forest, which was often covered in moss, provided some cooling for us. On the way back in the car, we stopped at a river flowing into the open sea and cooked ourselves a delicious lunch before visiting a lighthouse and Cape Foulwind. In the evening, after having pizza in town, we continued our journey inland. Around 10 pm, we reached a campsite directly next to a large waterfall. Today, after breakfast, we continued to Nelson Lakes National Park. Here too, we decided to do a multi-hour tour to a summit, Mount Robert. The exhausting ascent was rewarded with a breathtaking view. A picnic in the sun on the summit gave us energy for the long descent. After just under 3 hours, we were back at the van and drove to the riverbank to take a refreshing swim. Before leaving the national park, we treated ourselves to a hot shower at the nearby campsite, and now we have arrived at an overnight spot on a high mountain. Tomorrow, we plan to continue moving north and explore the North Coast in the next few days.
See you later,
Malia