Layers

I have for quite some time been racking my brain to think of an ideal photo to use to represent No. 1 Layers for the Wintertime Photography Scavenger Hunt. Then I realised the answer was staring me in the face. While we were in New Zealand we saw the most remarkable layers of rock.

 Pancake Rocks are situated at Punakaiki which is a small place on the West Coast. The state highway that passes through it twists along the coast , down into the township and back out in a similar manner. The rocks and blow holes are naturally formed and are a great tourist attraction.

These limestone formations were formed 30 million years ago when lime rich fragments of dead marine creatures that were left on the sea bed were overlaid with mud and clay. Earthquake activity has caused the layers to be pushed up above sea level.

The erosion by the sea and weather conditions has created the extraordinary formations visible today.

The sea has also eroded a serie of blow holes where at high tides the water is funnelled up through in an enormous spray.

Watching the sea come and go through these rocks was a hypnotic activity. I would have been quite happy to stand there and watch all day.