I couldn't help but smile when I saw the sign in front of the liquor store next to Motueka's Op Shop, aka the second-hand store, where I needed a fleece jacket pdq. I hadn't realized my cardigan and light, puffy coat wouldn't be warm enough on New Zealand's South Island.
After luckily finding someone else's discarded coat, we headed southwest cross-country to the island's west coast toward Westport. We admired the historic suspension Peninsula Bridge, which spanned the Motueka River in Ngātīmoti. The bridge was a key feature of the Tasman's Great Taste Trail, a popular cycling route.
I wonder how the cyclists fare on the wooden bridge!!
Not being a beer drinker, I don't know the quality of the beer made by Hinetai Hops near Tapawera. But certainly, their fields and apple orchards looked beautiful.
I managed to get a quick shot as we whizzed past St. George's Anglican Church in Motupiko. Built in 1897, it served 32 Anglican families in the area.
The War Memorial in tiny Murchison:
Another example of huge swaths of non-native trees being eradicated in New Zealand:
After driving for a couple of hours, Steven was up for a rest when I saw a sign for the Buller Gorge Swing Bridge. We hadn't heard about it before then, but I had become a recent convert to suspension bridges. When I read that it was the country's longest swing bridge, I could hardly get out of the car fast enough to walk across!
Wearing my new-to-me jacket!
Shots looking upriver and downriver from the same spot on the bridge:
Only 15 people were allowed on the bridge at a time, and passing on it was encouraged, no doubt to prevent people from posing for endless selfies! Neither was an issue that morning, as only a couple of others were on the bridge at the same time.
The Māori considered the rushing waters of the Buller River to be Kawatiri, or "fast and swift." That was both a reference point and a warning. Few people dared to cross it until gold lured them to the area.
As a photographer, you try not to include electrical lines in your shots. I smiled, as this was the first time I wanted the lines in the picture to indicate the zipline beside the bridge!
Walking across the 110-meter-long bridge was worth every bit of the less than $8 cost! I was just so thankful I didn't drop my phone into the river while taking shots from the bridge.
Kerry, this one's for you!
About 75 minutes later, we reached Westport on Buller Bay, where we wanted to see the M.V. Kaitawa Memorial, which commemorated the 29 Westport lives lost when the 2,485-ton coal ship encountered severe storms and monstrous seas off New Zealand's North Island on May 23, 1966. It is still the worst modern-day maritime disaster in the country.
It was also sad to see smaller memorials to other loved ones from Westport lost at sea.
Diana: I know from your itinerary that you and David spent a night in Westport. I'd love to know what you saw, as we must have missed some 'sights' there, unless Westport was just a spot to lay your heads?
After getting a bite to eat, we admired the many Art Deco-style buildings in the small town from the car before taking the Great Coast Road south.
Ellen: I know you and Peter are thinking of a trip to New Zealand, among other fabulous places, for your BIG birthday next year. If you decide on NZ, I hope that you'll include this stretch of the South Island's west coast, as it was impossible for us not to ooh and ahh at every turn. I know you're from Lunenburg, an almost impossibly beautiful town on Nova Scotia's south coast, but I still think the views from this highway would impress you both.
If the coastal scenes weren't stunning enough, we only had to look at the other side of the road and gaze at the Paparoa Range towering behind the rainforest!
From the Irimahuwhero Lookout, we could look back south and see the twisty-turny road we'd just driven that skirted the bays and inlets along the coast.
And a view looking northward:
The Paparoa National Park Visitor Centre in Punakaiki, which blended seamlessly into the surrounding coastal forest, hosted visitors to the mind-blowing Punakaiki Pancake Rocks. For those who love famous rock formations, you might be familiar with Northern Ireland's Giant’s Causeway, Brazil's Sugar Loaf Mountain, or Colombia's Rock of Guatapè. If you can, make a beeline for the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks, as we did, to marvel at the limestone rocks that have been weathered over a million years.
I loved the centre's brilliant design with its reception area mimicking the pancake rocks across the road!
I read that the Māori believe that "When land and water are sustained, the people will prosper."
A well-maintained looped path teased us with tantalizing views of the rocks ...
... and past massive plantings of New Zealand flax that were essential in the Māori culture.
Through a slow, natural process, the ocean deposited sediments, shells, and marine life that over millions of years hardened into stone. The ancient process laid the foundation for the towering limestone cliffs and magnificent coastal formations.
Thirty million years ago, what is now dry land was part of the ocean floor. This place was all ocean, and the calcium-rich remains of seashells, bones, and sediment were compressed into limestone. The famous pancake rock formations were sculpted by a range of natural forces over millions of years. Wind, waves, and oceans chipped away at the softer layers of rock to create the striking flat, stacked appearance. The slow erosion process has left behind the distinct 'pancake' shapes we'd come to marvel at.
Chimney Pot:
Hint: I urge you to click any of these photos to enlarge them. They will also be sharper and more distinct.
We were reminded not to think of the pancake rocks as static, as the relentless action of wind-driven waves continues to shape the cliff faces.
A view of the lush coastal vegetation from the loop trail:
Hector's Dolphins, one of the smallest dolphin species, are found only along this part of the South Island coast. The 50-60-meter-long dolphins feast on medium-sized fish, as well as octopus and squid.
The churning surge pools were certainly a thrilling sight, but if we'd been lucky enough to be there at high tide, I think we'd have been even more stupefied to see the sea burst through several incoming blowholes during incoming swells.
The next time I make pancakes, I'll be sure to think of the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks we were lucky enough to view! After completing the loop trail, I think we were even more excited to visit Western Australia's Wave Rock in a few weeks!
How many words are there to describe the views as we skirted the coast on the 100-km-long Great Coast Road? Somehow, even stunning, spectacular, and magnificent fail to do justice to what we saw and felt.
Next post: The mining legacy at Greymouth and the arts and crafts mecca of Hotikika!
Posted on June 1st, 2026, from Taiching in central Taiwan, after spending almost a week in sweltering Taipei, the country's capital. After planning and then having to cancel several trips to this island nation off the southeast coast of China, we're thrilled to be here at last. But the high humidity almost did us in the first few days. After hearing three days ago from our Denver-based son, Zachary, that our basement was flooding, we wondered whether we should hightail it home. Thank goodness, Zachary has things under control on the home front. Covid, complications from surgeries, and now a flood haven't augured well for our exploration of Taiwan!
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