Two Years in KiwiLand: Christmas Break (Day 6)

Today was a pretty busy day. We started the day off right with some eggs and bacon on the grill. Just as we were finishing breakfast a truck drove by handing out free samples of Sol Beer (kind of like Corona). It was still early in the morning but, oh well, we were on holiday and it was free so we obliged. Next, we headed out to a place recommended by some of the campers called Rawhiti Cave. We didn't really know what to expect. People warned us that the hike up is pretty steep, and they weren't kidding. It was a relatively short hike - only about 45 minutes but practically straight uphill. The hike was definitely worth it though. The cave was amazing. It had all sorts of stalactite formations hanging from the top of the cave. They grew is strange shapes as they shifted out towards the sun. We explored the cave for a bit and hiked down to the bottom of it over some pretty slippery rocks, but luckily didn't fall and impale ourselves.

After the cave, we headed on to the Pupu Springs (Te Waikoropupu) which are supposed to be the some of the clearest in the world. It was pretty cool, but since there was so much water bubbling up, it made it tough to see too clearly. There was an ex-hippy DOC guy there who told us that the water at the Info Center in town is pumped directly from the springs underground and is some of the best in the world. They sell the water in the info center for about $3 a bottle but the water coming from the spigot outside is the same source (apparently the locals go there to get water) so we filled our water jugs up for free. It was pretty good, but still just water. The hippy DOC guy also told us about a place nearby called Wharariki Beach. Note that it is pronounced "Firariki" - the "WH" sound in New Zealand is pronounced like an "F". He said to go at low tide in order to see all the caves and cool places on the beach. He mentioned that it is a great place to "play" and the caves are "magical" and he claimed to see faces in the rocks there. Although that was an odd description, we were an hour away from low tide so decided to go check it out.

Whararike beach did turn out to be an amazing place. The beach was huge and almost completely deserted. There were beautiful sand dunes, lots of caves, rock formations out in the water, and a bunch of seals around the area. We spent a good bit of time walking around, exploring the caves, and watching the seals. I didn't see any faces in the caves but it was still a pretty cool place, probably one of my favorites. I couldn't believe that such a beautiful place is not commercialized at all. There was hardly anyone there at all and we actually had to hike about 20 minutes across private farm land just to get there. This place would have certainly had a few resorts on it if it were in the U.S. It is located up near Farewell Cape (a skinny peninsula jutting out from the northwest corner of the south island) on the South Island. The map below shows approximately where we were at:

After spending a good bit of time at Wharariki beach, we gradually made our way back to the Holiday Park. At least this night, we were able to move out of the overflow camping area into our own site which was nicer. On the way back to Pohara Beach, we stopped in at a local bar/restaurant that had been recommended to us by a number of people called the Mussell Inn. It was quite an interesting place the brewed its own beer and had a large shaded outdoor eating/chilling out area. This place had some normal people but also was hippy heaven. There were a bunch of weirdos there and it felt like we stepped back in time to the 60s. There were young hippies but also a lot of older hippies that appeared not to have changed much from the 60s, including our DOC guy that we met at the Pupu springs - he showed up in a long flowing white robe-looking outfit. It was fun people-watching until the hippy band came on and everyone started dancing all strange so we decided to get out of there and head back to the campground. It was another busy but great day.

Dan posing with grilled bacon and eggs breakfast

Me with the free early morning beer

Dan posing at the penguin crossing sign - we didn't see any, unfortunately

Me with the entrance to Rawhiti cave in the background

Strange stalactites at Rawhiti Cave

Dan at the entrance of Rawhiti Cave

Another shot of the stalactites

Looking down into the cave

Me on the way down into the cave

Looking up at the entrance of the cave from the bottom

Pupu Springs

Pupu Springs (Video)

Wharariki Beach

Me on Wharariki Beach

Rock formations out in the water at Wharariki Beach

Dan in a cool little tide pool at Wharariki Beach

Dan out in the water (there are supposedly pretty strong rip tides so we didn't go out far)

Southern fur seal on the rocks at Wharariki Beach

A seal staring us down at the beach - supposedly it's dangerous to stand between a seal and the beach because they bite people so we moved out of its way