Day 2 of our West Coast road trip is a doozy. We had a jam-packed day of adventure, starting at Buller Gorge and finishing in Punakaiki. We went over a swing bridge, took a jet boat tour, took a little hike, and saw the popular Pancake Rocks.
Day 1 ○ Day 3 ○ Day 4 ○ Day 5 ○ Day 6 ○ Day 7
Buller Gorge
We started day 2 of our West Coast trip at Buller Gorge Adventure Park. This wasn’t something we had planned on doing, but we saw it on the side of the road and thought it looked fun! In my opinion, a bit of spontaneity is key to having a successful trip anywhere. We purchased the jet boat/swing bridge/comet line package, because why not.
The first part of the park is walking across the (admittedly scary) swing bridge. It’s basically see-through all the way around, the edges are not that tall, and it moves a lot when you walk. At 110 meters, it is New Zealand’s longest swing bridge.
Once we got to the safety of the other side, we walked a few minutes through some nice, dense forest. If you purchase just the swing bridge crossing, at this point you walk counterclockwise all the way around the park. Since we bought a jet boat ride, we waited at the boat launch spot until our driver got there.
Our driver, Mark, was awesome. He got us suited up, told us all about the river, and had some pretty funny dad jokes. Once out on the water, the trip took us about 45 minutes. The boat goes very fast, and does a few circles and tight turns. Ben and I got a bit splashed sitting at the front! Other than the fun ride, the scenery itself was beautiful as well. There were tons of waterfalls, cliffs, and views of the nearby mountains.
After our boat ride and a nice walk around the park, we reached the swing bridge again. Instead of walking back across it, we decided to do a quick tandem zip-line (what the park calls the Comet Line). Even though it was over pretty quickly, it was really cool to fly back over the gorge that we had walked across earlier.
Prices (in NZD)
- Just the swing bridge crossing: $10 adults, $5 children
- Jet boat ride (includes swing bridge entry): $125 adults, $75 children
- Comet line: $40 adults, $20 children
Buller Gorge to Punakaiki
I had to include a section here about the 1 hour and 45-minute drive to the West Coast because it was so beautiful. We ended up stopping the van every few minutes to pull into lookout spots and take pictures. There are definitely plenty of opportunities to do so along the way!
Truman Track
The Truman Track is an easy, 30-minute round-trip walk that goes from forest to sea. There are three different and distinct areas that you’ll walk through: the forest canopy zone, the coastal flax zone, and the coastal turf zone.
There are heaps of very cool trees, vines, and plants on this trail. The absolute highlight of this track for me, however, was the bird songs we heard along the way. There was one in particular that sounded just like the old-school dial-up internet noise. Ben and I probably stood in one place for a few minutes in stunned silence. We couldn’t believe that something like that actually exists in nature.
(I googled what kind of bird it was afterward — it’s a tui! Please watch this video for some more context.)
After getting over the shock of the funny bird noises, we made it to the coastal part of the track. It was absolutely incredible. There are a few viewing platforms where you can watch the waves crash into the rocks below. We spent some time here being amazed at the blowhole that kept spurting water into the air. You can also access the water and beach below, which are nice at low tide.
Punakaiki Pancake Rocks & Blowholes
I’ll preface this by saying that I had low expectations for these rocks. I had seen them on social media and thought, “Oh, cool, rocks that look like pancakes.” I was definitely not expecting to be so blown away by how awesome they are in real life and by how well thought out the park was. Some popular attractions are overhyped, but this is not one of them.
The blowholes are best seen at high tide, so we arrived at the rocks at about 6:45 pm. It’s free to enter and takes about an hour or so to complete the whole track. It starts off pretty tame with some cool-looking rocks out in the distance, but quickly escalates to whole towers and massive holes that make explosive noises.
The Punakaiki pancake rocks are limestone formations that are over 30 million years old. Over time, dead sea creatures would mix with soft mud and clay and stick onto the existing rocks. Sea, wind, rain, and earthquakes have formed them into the unusual shapes they are today.
At high tide, the violent ocean waves are sucked underneath the caverns and blow upwards through the holes (hence the term “blowholes”). Every few minutes, we would hear a loud burst followed by a bunch of mist drifting into the air. There is one particular spot in the park where the noise is extremely loud. The waves produce a sudden bang, which then sounds like it’s being sucked through a funnel and suddenly stops. Very strange but very cool!
After seeing the Pancake Rocks, we drove about 10 minutes south to a little campsite I found through the NZMCA app. It was right on the beach, so we could hear the waves crashing as we fell asleep. There were also several wekas roaming around looking for food.
I hope you enjoyed day 2 of our West Coast road trip! Look out for day 3 coming soon. We visit Dorothy Falls, Lake Kaniere, and the town of Hokitika.
xoxo Niki
