Hokitika - Punakaiki - Arthurs Pass

Because we left Franz Josef straight after our hike we were shattered when we arrived into Hokitika that night. But when we got there and booked into our camp the owner Brian said he would turn on the Spa for us seeing we were so wrecked!
He was well sound...he turned it on just for us and in we went and locked the door behind us... it was great!
Hokitika is famous for its jade and glass mostly, however most people use it as the crossover town from west to east coast to Christchruch over the mountains and Arthurs pass..
But after some shopping for Jade and watching the glass blowers we ventured north first to a place called Punakaiki...The road from Hokitika up there is grand and we seemed to have left the bad weather behind us. One thing we did notice however were the road signs - slightly different to ones back home!

The roads were also a bit mad, there are one laned bridges everywhere and shared by most as well - we had to take our chances with this bridge and hope a train didnt come!!

Punakaiki is only small and i'd say famous for one thing really, its "pancake rocks and blowholes" they sounded too intriguing to miss hence our visit..
They were well worth the 2hr drive as well, all along the coast when you get there are these rocks that basically just look like stacks of pancakes squashed together and then in between them when the tide comes in the sea water blows up straight through them all in massive spirts!

They were amazing to watch even though you get soaked each time the blow hole goes and there are loads of them as well. We could have stayed there all day but snow was forecast and we needed to get up and across the mountains at Arthurs pass asap so off we went after lunch..
The drive to Arthurs pass hadnt been too bad but as we drove further up the mountain it became extremely ropey.. Snow appeared all around us and it was also dark at this stage, Ger's face was just about touching the windscreen so he could see where he was driving and because we had no snow chains i was shitting myself as well and i dont think my passenger seat driving comments helped Ger concentrate any better on getting up the whinding roads to the top! He has actually taken to calling me Gerry (as in Adams) on occasion lol

We eventually made it to the top but didnt make it over 10mph to do so.. and it was freezing so there was sod all chance i was spending the night in the van so we booked in for a night of alpine lodge luxury, a big pot of spaghetti bolognese and a few local beers across the road to help us thaw out!
Up early the next morning though to make it back down the other side of the mountain to Christchurch before the snow could catch up with us again!