Punakaiki Beach Hostel

So, I think Em's covered our journey as far as Punakaiki. This is a tiny settlement on the west coast, of which Em had very fond memories. She did quite a bit of *WWOOF-ing last time she was in NZ and one of her favourite places was the Punakaiki Beach Hostel, run by three German characters. We arrived in the early evening, hoping that (a) the place was still there and (b) they would allow us to park the van on their property and use their shower/cooking facilities. Em left me to park and ret...

Arrived safely from Australia having had to go through a rigorous process to get in. They are so strict I had to have my boots washed because I said I had been on a farm!! Oh well that over Scenic Circle Airdale Hotel made up for it as I was double-booked into one room they gave me a suite instead - bargain. Picked up early on day one of my 21 day New Zealand Tour of North and South Islands. Its a bit drizzling but its not cold. North Island Day 1 - Auckland to Bay of Islands. Going to Bay of...

23.17 - From the Abel Tasman, we set off South at about 11.00. I had originally intended to go for a run like this morning but my calf's were so sore I was unable to. It will teach me to warm up and cool down properly in the future. So, after a quick food stop in Motueka we were on our way. The drive was a bit boring though. Ali had bought Paulie to watch on our big, bright Stray bus which caught our attention but was a **** film. On the way, we stopped in a few ghost towns where you could no...

Na een rit van een paar uur kwamen we bij ons hostel in Punakaiki aan. Hier bleek, dat we nergens boodschappen konden doen, laat staan pinnen... Dammit. Dus gelukkig hebben we daar de creditcards en is er in ieder stadje, hoe klein ook, wel een kroeg waar "fish 'n chips"
geserveerd wordt.

Ons hostel lag aan het strand, alleen gescheiden door een klein kiezelstenen-weggetje. Het strand op dus! Na die rit (erg mooi, maar wederom errug bochtig), had ik wel zin in een duik! Enorm koud, ...

The day after we headed south again from Nelson passing through some very mountainous countryside on the way to our next destination. The roads were steep and winding and it took us several hours to reach the next main town Westport, a drab place on the coast but luckily for us having a large (and cheap) supermarket. We stocked up on the local produce, steak, monkfish and veggies to keep us going for the next few days. Heading south again along the coast through the Paperoa National park, we ...

Well on the westcoast road, widely touted as one of the most scenic coastal drives in New Zealand. After a brief overnight stop in Westport I was looking forward to a couple of nights in Punakaiki, home to the 'famous' pancake rocks and blow holes. I needed a bit of recovery time after the jet boat experience on the Buller River. Everything had been going well as we cruised the route, taking in a bit of the local history. We got our first full throttle spin. And then one of the engines failed...

The weather was not letting up, so we decided to ditch the upper east coast of the island and cross over to the west coast. En route, we got a few sun bursts while passing through sheep fields - it was so scenic that we both took about a hundred photos of sheep!! Some of the sheep were in fields of hops; within each row of hops, the sheep looked like they were going through the tunnel of life and passing to the other side. Luckily we were on the other side the next night and had delicious lam...

So Ali and me went back to Shortbread Cottage on Tuesday morning, and we spent the afternoon doing what we do best - shopping, eating and playing pool! We found a pool hall called the Shark Club which offered free pool from 5-7pm, and we helped ourselves to a huge bowl of wedges in the process. Afterwards we went to a restaurant for more food (pizza for me) and then just chatted before returning to the hostel, where I acted like a real gentleman and let Ali eat the last piece of shortbread! T...

Things can't getting better than the views and sights you see from the bus while travelling from Marahau (Abel Tasman National Park ) via the Buller Gorge along the Tasman sea and stopping on the way at Kilkenny viewpoint and spotting Australia across the ocean (soon be there on the 13th Dec). Doris and I loved the place and asked to make an emergency stop and threw our gear off the bus so we could stop one night in the remote Beach Hostel in Punaraiki. Beautiful views from the hostel deck an...

arrived in punakaiki in the pouring rain! it was really cold too, but still i could take in the coolness of this hostel, i was literally right on the beach....only about 5m away!!! was pretty amazing, especially as the sea was right in and crashing so loudly! the hostel has a sea view kitchen upstairs, a hot tub outside also with a sea view and tons of lovely pieces of driftwood used for various ingenious things inside (the hand rail and hand towel holders in the bathrooms!!) it was so lovely...