Punakaiki

Punakaiki is a small community on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand, between Westport and Greymouth. The community lies on the edge of the Paparoa National Park.

Punakaiki
Punakaiki
Coordinates: 42°6′30″S 171°20′10″E
CountryNew Zealand
RegionWest Coast
DistrictBuller District

The Pancake Rocks are a very popular tourist destination at Dolomite Point south of the main village. The Pancake Rocks are a heavily eroded limestone area where the sea bursts through several vertical blowholes during high tides. Together with the 'pancake'-layering of the limestone (created by immense pressure on alternating hard and soft layers of marine creatures and plant sediments),[1] these form the main attraction of the area.

The Pancake Rocks are presently explorable by a number of walkways winding through the rock formations, parts of these wheelchair-accessible and others carved into stairways up and down the rock faces.[1] State Highway 6, the only through road on the West Coast, passes through the town.

  • Looking south from the pancake rocks
  • Walkways around the pancake rocks area
  • Walkway and blowhole
Panorama of Punakaiki community

References
  1. Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes (from the New Zealand Department of Conservation website)
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