Tuesday 17 January 2017

Misled by a Name

Booking all our accommodation before we left was quite a time consuming occupation but I don't know about you but some of the joy of a holiday is the planning. One of the key stops that I booked was a room in a motel at a place called Punakaiki on the West coast. This is the location of the famous Pancake Rocks and Blow Holes. I hope to show you some more pictures of these but here is a little taster.


The room looked out on one of the blow holes, an ideal location! Imagine my disappointment when about a month ago I had an email asking me to cancel my booking because they had suffered a disaster that had destroyed the room. My natural curiosity had me emailing for more information. There's me thinking earthquake (I know wrong coast). It seems a fire sadly destroyed the room. So it was back to searching. Punakaiki is quite small so there was no joy finding another place there so up the coast I looked.
I found a suitable motel just outside Westport at a place called Cape Foulwind. How could a place with a name like that be worth visiting? I was a little concerned about this but it was just a stopover. How wrong can you be. The motel was lovely and the coast beautiful.


We were given directions by the proprietor to a nearby seal colony and enjoyed a scenic walk to see them.


We spent a long time watching the fur seals of all ages. A delight to see. I hope my camera pictures are better than this one. I'm afraid it's rather which is rock and which a seal.


We also spent some time considering the distances we had travelled from home and in New Zealand itself.


Anyway the message is. Should you see a sign to Cape Foulwind on your travels go and have a look. You won't be disappointed.

3 comments:

  1. It does indeed look lovely and what a treat to see the seals - I'm guessing this name is another of Captain Cook's - he did have some imaginative ones and I love to come across them in NZ and Australia. thanks for your message - extra layer of clothes packed!

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  2. Wonderful (and yes I can see the seals).
    Lorks - he should have called Rotorua Foulwind if anywhere! No doubt a nautical reference which need not concern a landlubber like yours truly.

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  3. Fascinating name. Did Captain Cook have a sense of humour, then? Or maybe he had just eaten a very bad lunch...

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