From Abel Tasman to Punakaiki

With a heavy heart, we left The Barn and headed to the West Coast. A result after long consideration, eliminating Golden Bay and only reaching Kaikoura on the East Coast at the end of the tour.

From Marahau via Motueka, we then traveled through the interior of the country to Westport. Truly beautiful landscapes. (Had to significantly reduce our photos for the blog).

On the West Coast, we encountered black rocks and waves and at every turn (and there were many) a more beautiful view.

Arriving in Punakaiki, there was unfortunately a double booking (To console us, the lady at the reception gave us a biobriquette) and we ended up again at a very nice campsite right on the beach. Infinite expanse, wind, waves, sand, and very beautiful green stones. We fell asleep to the sound of the waves crashing after cooking and eating fantastic ravioli in our 'colorful dog' and drinking lots of red wine.

The next day, we hiked to the Pancake Rocks and marveled at the power of the water, which sprayed up through all the rock cracks and holes during high tide. Very impressive. After a second night, we continued our trip on the West Coast.