Travel Diary » New Zealand Road Trip: Pancake Rocks
New Zealand Road Trip: Pancake Rocks
After spending a night at Franz Josef and a day exploring the glaciers we headed north to Greymouth. Greymouth is one of those destinations that isn't that exciting or picturesque but it is a good place to break up the drive between Christchurch and the west coast glaciers. After our long drive to the glaciers from Queenstown, just driving to Greymouth was 'enough' for the kids. We were getting 'are we there yet?' questioning 5 minutes out of Franz Josef.
While Greymouth isn't that exciting, there are a lot of nice things to see in that area. Bushwalks to old gold mining settlements, Shantytown, creeks, beaches covered in driftwood and polished rocks (as if the kids rock collection wasn't big enough already after exploring the river beds around the glaciers, you should have seen it after two nights at the beach in Greymouth!).
One of the most popular attractions in the area is Pancake Rocks, a bizarre collection of limestone broken pillars like stacks of pancakes standing in the ocean 40 minutes north of Greymouth in Punakaki.
Over thousands of years, alternating layers of small marine creatures and sand became buried and compressed on the ocean floor creating alternating layers of soft sandstone and harder limestone. Movement of the earth over time raised the layers off the ocean floor, where time and the elements started eroding away the softer sandstone creating cliffs, pinnacles, ravines and gorges made from thousands of thin layers.
At high tide when the conditions are right there are several blow holes. Although I'm not sure what the 'right conditions' have to be - we were there 30 minutes before high tide on a stormy day with a big swell and there were none to be seen.
Walking around Pancake Rocks with kids
The first half of the walking trail around the headland at Pancake Rocks is flat and easy.
The second half is mostly flat but there are several steep, narrow stair cases so bringing a pram isn't a great idea unless you just want to walk halfway and turn back.
The walk takes 15-20 minutes depending on how often you stop to look and how often your kids run off ahead as you try to take that perfect sunset photo or read an information sign.
As you'd expect with a 7 and 5 year old, they were really engaged and interested in the strange rocks for about 5 minutes and then decided chasing each other along the long pathway looked like more fun. Unfortunately for parents that like to stop, read and look, Pancake Rocks is one of those walks with lots of steep vantage points and high winds where you shouldn't really let young kids out of your sight ... so you end up reading half a sign before you have to run off after the kids shouting 'slow down' as they giggle and disappear around the next corner.
One thing that did hold the children's attention was this outcrop of columns where many of the features resembled animals and faces.
There's a handy sign that points out some of the obvious shapes and features ... although we couldn't make out some of them. Perhaps the rock formations have changed since the sign went up ... or perhaps our imagination wasn't quite up to some of the more abstract ones.
The surge pool was another feature the kids stopped their run-a-head-a-thon long enough to gaze at. The walk takes you around the outer wall of the pool and over a bridge with plenty of vantage points to watch the waves surge in and crash against the cliffs.
Getting there and what to know before you go:
The drive to Punakaki and Pancake Rocks from Greymouth takes around 40 minutes each way and it's around 110km return with no petrol stations along the way so make sure you fuel up before leaving Greymouth.
The drive to Punakaki is spectacular. Steep cliffs, rocky beaches and impossibly green farmland - it clearly rains around here often! Colin spent half the time picking out beach-front homes he'd like to buy.
Keep an eye out for seals - we didn't see any but a number of colonies live in the area. Dolphins are also common to the area but again we didn't see any. We did sight a number of Weka though, a curious friendly flightless bird about the size of a small chicken.
There's quite a few nice spots to stop along the way and Punakaki itself has other attractions, including picturesque beaches, rivers and caves so you could easily spend the day in the area.
Most of the walk is sheltered thanks to the vegetation but it can be really windy and cold. Forget about hats but be sure to bring jackets.
Near the start of the walk to Pancake Rocks is a tourist information store and cafe. We brought our own snacks and water.
I'm taking part in Travel Photo Thursday at Budget Travelers Sandbox and Photo Friday at Delicious Baby this week.
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05/10/2012 12:22am (8 months ago)
I miss New Zealand! My kids do, too.
05/10/2012 4:25am (8 months ago)
That looks like such an interesting place! It always amazes me how water and time can affect the formation of rocks which seem so solid and unchangeable. We visited the Bay of Fundy this summer where the famous Flowerpot Rocks are. They are large rock formations that have been worn away by the tides but still have trees/plant life growing on top of them. We were able to walk around these huge rocks at low tide and then return at high tide to see them partially submerged which was really cool!
05/10/2012 5:56am (8 months ago)
@Lisa - I just googled Flowerpot Rocks. They look amazing. There were lots of similar formations along the coast to Pancake Rocks, including one that had an amazing keyhole in the middle of it and a couple at Pancake Rocks but none that were accessible. I'm sure your family would have had a lot of fun walking around them and then going back at high tide.
@Sophie - I think in a few months when we are in Canada and Asia we'll be saying the same thing. It's such a lovely place.
05/10/2012 5:03pm (8 months ago)
What a beautiful place! I love all those rock formations and the ocean as a backdrop makes it even more special. How cool that they actually put up that sign for everyone to use a reference point for the rock formations. I can only make out a couple of them :)
05/10/2012 11:47pm (8 months ago)
Looks like a great outing and certainly a lot more fun for kids than being in the car. I was just in Dinosaur Prov Park - a UNESCO world heritage site and it was full of wonderful rock formations (& dinosaurs). The rocks alone could hold my attention for hours.
06/10/2012 10:31am (8 months ago)
How pretty! I've never heard of Pancake Rocks before, but it looks like a great place for a hike (and taking great photos.)
06/10/2012 10:31am (8 months ago)
NZ is so spectacular, I suspect your definition of "not very interesting" differs from ours.... This looks beautiful! And I love the animals and people. I definitely see one of the characters from Where the Wild Things Are (left, with the nose and texture like long fur), a crouching cat, and a dancing hamster (the short one).
06/10/2012 11:47am (8 months ago)
Beautiful ocean landscape! We spent a couple days this summer on the coast of Portugal where there are also some amazing rock formations and incredible beaches.
06/10/2012 9:12pm (8 months ago)
I've heard of this area but it's great to see photos of it. The coastline looks stunning if not quite wild. It reminds me a little if the coastline of Victoria near the Twelve Apostles where wind and water have created similar stacks.
08/10/2012 5:14pm (8 months ago)
@Jenny - the area was very similar to the Great Ocean Road. We were there last year and we all remarked how similar the coastline north of Greymouth was to that area. Not quite as impressive as the Twelve Apostles though.
@Sonja - you had me at 'summer on the coast of Portugal'. That would have been so lovely.
@Tara - this spot was definitely interesting, it was just Greymouth itself that wasn't. But it was worth spending time in Greymouth to see the interesting things nearby. I like your dancing hamster - I can see that now you mention it.
@Michael - it was a lovely spot for photos. I'd love to go with a tripod and without the kids so I could take me time taking photos.
@Leigh - a lot more fun than being in the car. This was one road trip that turned out to be a lot more 'road' than 'trip'! We're in Canada at the end of the year. I'd love to make it to Dinosaur Prov Park. I think my 7 year old would never leave if I let him loose there!
@Mary - there really is something about dramatic ocean coastlines isn't there. Doesn't matter if it's sunny or cloudy or pelting down with rain, it's always dramatic and captivating.
09/10/2012 2:33pm (8 months ago)
I had Pancake Rocks on my list of possible things to see in NZ even before I read this. Now, I know that I definitely want to visit. Perhaps my kids will let me leisurely read every sign and take a bazillion photos. Hah! No chance of that.
19/10/2012 4:26am (7 months ago)
Your photos came out great! I love the first one with the pinky sunset hues. Much better than my iPhone shots!