Rocks that look like pancakes

Luckily the rain and wind did pipe down a bit last night and this morning seemed to be a brighter day. We know from experience now that it can all be deceptive and within minutes it'll change so we made sure we were prepared today for a downpour at any time. We were lacking a plan from this point onwards so we headed to a coffee shop to get on Wi-Fi to research some things about our next steps. Also we have decided for Nick's birthday we will book into an Airbnb for a couple of nights to give us a mini break from life in the van. We spent time this morning working out where we'd expect to be and we've given ourselves the deadline of the 31st to be in the North island where we've booked a place to stay in Wellington. It'll be nice to be able to sleep in a bed for a couple of nights that we haven't had to assemble and disassemble in the morning! This gives us just over a week to cover the top of the South island and we also realised if we do miss anything out we are coming back down onto the South island at some point so we can always do these things then or even in summer. Since visiting the jewellery makers we are more determined than ever to find our own stones to use to make some unique pieces. We drove to the outskirts of Greymouth where a huge stretch of pebble beach is. There were millions of stones and we both set off in opposite directions eyes down picking up any that might be promising. We'd probably spent a good 30 to 45 minutes wondering around and looking and it was only when we looked back at each other did we realise how far we'd walked. Nick was a small spec on the horizon and waved his umbrella at me to signal he was ready to move on. As I walked back towards the van I was still glancing down when I saw what looked like the shape of a bottom. I picked it up and was quite surprised to find that it was indeed a bottom on a very worn down china doll that has no legs or head. It's the most bizarre feeling to hold it and not know anything about it's origin or how it ended up here. We'd both found a good few stones but I'm not sure any will be workable. It turns out it's quite hard to find the "right" ones. We continued on our way and drove quite a distance up to Pancake Rocks. We did stop at a few view points on the way which overlooked the beautifully rough Tasman sea. The rocks themselves looked like stacks of pancakes and geologists can't actually work out how they formed in such even and precise layers. The erosion that has happened on them is incredible and the railed path takes you over huge archways where the sea has powered through the rock below. Many places now also have blow holes where the water and spray shoots up when the waves are at their biggest. The sound of the force and power of the sea below was amazing and it's beautiful how it's sculpted the landscape. After admiring the area for quite some time we headed north again towards Westport where we planned to stay the night. 15km or so from the town we saw a sign for a seal colony so we took the detour out to sea. We were met by loads of Weka birds in the carpark which look a bit similar to the kiwi and are often mistaken for the kiwi itself. After a short walk we could see the seals and pups on the rocks below as the sun began to set. As we left the rain began and we received quite a few smiles from people as we ran past then back to the van. We made it to Westport and to our freedom camp spot by the beach. It's not a bad spot but the rain is coming down pretty hard now so we will have to see how it is in the morning in regards to our plans for tomorrow.Read more