Today we had a long drive ahead of us, up the west coast and then across the country to Blenheim on the north easy coast.

We set off fairly early as we wanted to drive north along the scenic Coastal road, through Paparoa national park to Punakaiki. Punakaiki is the location of the pancake rocks and blowholes. Essentially these are large limestone formations carved by the sea and erosion over millions of years. They were an impressive sight, especially against the crashing surf. It felt very wild on that coast, no boats in sight and deserted beaches against a backdrop of rain forest, dominated by huge ferns.

After about another 3 hours of driving we reached Blenheim which was ok, nothing special really. Finding somewhere to eat was tricky since the majority of restaurants and bars were closed due to Anzac day, their equivalent to remembrance Sunday. Eventually we found a little place which did very good walnut ice cream. I don't remember what we had for mains!