DAY 106: Pancake Rocks and the Copland Track

We got up at sunrise to see the famous Pancake Rocks of Punakaiki!

FUN FACT #53: The Pancake Rocks are heavily eroded limestone that looks like stacks of pancakes. During high tide, there are a number of blowholes located throughout the limestone.

Because it was so early, we were the only ones in the park! We took tons of pictures - the place was gorgeous! After only about an hour, we got back in the car to get our butts to the Copland Track.

On our way to the track, we passed both the Franz Josef and the Fox Glaciers! It was a long drive, but we finally made it to the track around 2 o'clock.

We were a little bit worried about how fast we would have to hike to get to the Welcome Hut before dark, but decided to don our headlamps when the time came and get to it. The track said it was a 7 hour hike, and we were determined to do it in 5.

The track was relatively flat- we were hiking in between mountains mostly on the side of a glacier fed river. The river's water was so blue, it looked like a Tiffany's box. It was so cool. There were a number of suspension bridges over the raging river, but we weren't too concerned about those. That is, until the sun started to set, everything was getting covered in frost, and the 30 yard long bridge could only hold one person at a time and it was pitch dark. When I got to the other side, I flashed my headlamp and Catherine made her way over. To fend off the possums, we sang LOUDLY as we continued our journey.

We finally heard voices after 5 hours and 45 minutes, and soon we were at the Welcome Hut. And boy was it welcoming. We met a nice Kiwi woman there on her first camping trip with her 25 year old daughter. They were very funny and very nice. We made and ate our mac and cheese with them. The woman told us about the hot springs about five minutes from the hut, so we grabbed our towels and went.

I was so cold from the sweat drying from the hike and the frigid temperatures of the South Island that I really didn't want to go in. But Catherine convinced me, and we jumped in the hot spring pools like they were our personal hot tubs. It was sooooo nice. It warmed me up so well, and the mud between my toes and the bubbles all around was so wonderful. There wasn't a cloud in the sky as we looked up on the Milky Way. The snow capped mountains around us were illuminated by the stars, and we sat there for quite a while.

I put on every piece of clothing I had and bundled in the sleeping bag in the hut. I swear, the Department of Conservation in New Zealand has nicer huts than there are Backpacker's Hostels. That mattress was pure heaven.