Today's activities included traveling to a new city, a visit to Pancake Rocks and glow worms!

We woke up to more rain as we packed up the house in Kaiteriteri. Having a baby along sure results in a lot more stuff! We were on the road by 9:30 and after a quick stop at the grocery store for lunch supplies, we were off to Paparoa National Park! The drive was very windy and curvy but beautiful views. There were mostly sheep farms as we climbed out of the valley along with small orchards. Nearly every farm had a roadside stand selling their fruits.

The drive became more mountainous and the hillsides were a much denser bush. We stopped for lunch and to stretch our legs at a small rest area with magnificent views.

Paparoa National Park is home to the Pancake Rocks. This unique rock formation looks like stacked pancakes created by years and years of the ocean crashing into the limestone. There was a nice paved trail and several viewing points on the short loop. The sun finally started to come out so the ocean, rock formations and mountains made for beautiful scenery!

Then we were off to tonight's house in Hokitika. So far driving on the opposite side of the road has been fairly easy. Today was a bit trickier as we encountered several one lane bridges. However the wildest traffic pattern we had was a one lane bridge that was shared with a train! As we pulled up to the bridge, I noticed the train tracks. But as I looked down the bridge to see if any cars were coming, I was rather shocked to see the single bright light of an oncoming train engine! We backed up and got out of the way!

We made it safely to the house and ordered fish and chips for dinner. We also had to try a local favorite pizza made with white bait (a very small fish only available this time of year). It did not go over well with the group.

After dark, we went to a glow worm dell. New Zealand glow worms are the larvae of an insect that have a kidney like organ that glows in the dark. It was very dark and the worms looked like twinkle lights. Very cool!

We move again tomorrow to the Franz Josef Glacier region.