Today's plan was to get to Franz Josef on the west coast with a stop at Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes on the way. After another visit to the local i-SITE I had a few more interesting spots marked along the route the first of which was the Otira Viaduct lookout.
Lake Brunner and some nice scenery on the coast road before Punakaiki.
The Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes were quite a popular attraction and it was easy to see why.
The blowholes in action.
Some more pancakes.
I had one more stop to make at Hokitika Gorge before reaching Franz Josef. The Gorge and the river were quite stunning but it was also here that I had my first real encounter with the scourge the are the sandflies. They're small like fruit flies, suck blood like mosquitoes and you can't ever hear them. Thoroughly nasty bloodsuckers and here they were swarming.
After feeding the local sandfly populace I got back on the road and reached Franz Josef in time for a nice sunset.
Comments