From Blue Rivers and Bizarre Rocks

02/06/2017

The alarm clock rings early, as rain is forecasted from 12 o'clock, which is typical for the West Coast of the South Island, as here the masses of clouds coming from the sea rain down on the high mountains.

First, we stop at Hokitika George. This breathtaking turquoise river gets its color from ground rock, glacier water, and minerals. Since we were there very early, we only shared this sight with two other Saxons, whom we could identify from afar by their dialect ;)

For our second stop, we drove a bit further north to the Pencake Rocks in Punakaiti. These impressive limestone rocks are a good example of geography: they were formed millions of years ago when sea animals and plants settled on the sea floor and sank under the ground. Pressure petrified the layers, hard and soft layers were created from limestone sediments and clay minerals. Finally, seismic pressure brought the rock back to the surface. Sediments were eroded by the wind and the sea, and their current form was created, which also gives them their name: they look like stacked pancakes.

At around 2 pm, the predicted rain started, and we drove to a free campsite right by the lake and set up our accommodation for the night there.