Hokitika Gorge, blowholes and pancakes...around Greymouth

It was cold this morning, 8 degrees and a few clouds. The weather forecast predicted a rather mixed day with lots of clouds - there was plenty of sun!

First we went to Hokitika, which is about 40 km south on the coast. The city describes itself as “cool and small” - and rightly so! Actually only two large streets with various small shops intersect and you're on the beach. One or two artists have immortalized themselves with the flotsam there, or at least as long as the wind, weather and ocean enjoy the art. Walking along the beach, you quickly come across the Shipwreck Memorial in the shape of a ship in memory of 42 ships that sank off the coast of Hokitika.

The sun picture with halo was also taken there by Ms. Halos are created by ice crystals in very high and fine clouds, so-called cirrus clouds, at an altitude of eight to twelve kilometers. The ice crystals in these clouds break down the sunlight into its spectral colors and this is how this circle with the rainbow colors is created.

A coffee later and another 30 kilometers inland along the Hokitika River to enjoy the Hokitika Gorge Walk. The Hokitika River here has an intense turquoise color that can be admired from various places such as a suspension bridge or a small beach. Great pictures!

In the afternoon, pancake rocks and blowholes beckon, found in the small village of Punakaiki in the Paparoa National Park. Punakaiki is located almost 5o kilometers north of Greymouth and can be reached via coastal Highway 6. Here too, nature offers a unique spectacle. The Pancake Rocks are limestone formations formed by erosion that rise out of the water near the coast here in Punakaiki and are surrounded by several large and small blowholes. A blowhole or surf geyser is a narrow opening at the end of a sea cave that extends above the cave ceiling into the open air. When a surf wave hits the mouth of the cave, it is guided through the cave walls, like a funnel, to the opening above ground and emerges as an impressive fountain.

Last evening in Greymouth. We took a short walk and passed the monument in memory of the miners who died in mining accidents. In the Gray Region around Greymouth there were many serious accidents in the hard coal mines: in 1896, 65 miners died in a gas leak in the Brunner coal mine, and in 1967, 19 miners were killed in an explosion in the Strongman Coal Mine. The last serious accident was almost 24 years ago, when 29 miners were killed in an explosion in the Pike River Mine on November 19, 2010.

Tomorrow we continue to the Scenic Hotel Franz Josef Glacier on the Waiho River and at the foot of Aoraki / Mount Cook, at 3724 meters the highest mountain in New Zealand - Reinhold Messner - Pitti will tackle it in the afternoon - just before dinner.

Windshield wiper instead of indicator counter: 90

coming soon

PIDISI