This morning we were supposed to visit the Franz Josef glacier and take a hike to see it (you don't get to walk on it) but it was pouring rain. We delayed leaving the hostel by an hour in hopes of it letting up with no luck. We would have gotten soaked on the walk and it may have even been dangerous or impossible due to flooding.
We stopped at a massive jade store called Mountain Jade in Hokitika where I got a a necklace with a manaia. Traditionally the manaia is depicted with a head of a bird, the body of a man, and the tail of a fish. It is widely accepted as a tribal guardian, with some carved as grotesque figures, and others carved as almost human with a fierce facial expression. The new age understanding of the manaia is that it represents the balance between the sky, the earth and the sea. Credited with supernatural powers, this enduring Maori design is said to have the ability to protect the wearer from evil. They are usually depicted in profile, and some feel this is because part of the manaia is in the spiritual world, part in this.
The Pancake Rocks were next. The wind was howling which made the sea foam float up to us on the walkways. I was hard to even walk but very cool. It was also a great reminder of the powers of mother nature! The cliffs were beautiful but the coolest part was seeing "The Blowholes". They weren't at full force when we were there (you need to be there at high tide for that) but essentially the water rushes against the rocks with such force that it comes straight up.
We stopped at a massive jade store called Mountain Jade in Hokitika where I got a a necklace with a manaia. Traditionally the manaia is depicted with a head of a bird, the body of a man, and the tail of a fish. It is widely accepted as a tribal guardian, with some carved as grotesque figures, and others carved as almost human with a fierce facial expression. The new age understanding of the manaia is that it represents the balance between the sky, the earth and the sea. Credited with supernatural powers, this enduring Maori design is said to have the ability to protect the wearer from evil. They are usually depicted in profile, and some feel this is because part of the manaia is in the spiritual world, part in this.
The Pancake Rocks were next. The wind was howling which made the sea foam float up to us on the walkways. I was hard to even walk but very cool. It was also a great reminder of the powers of mother nature! The cliffs were beautiful but the coolest part was seeing "The Blowholes". They weren't at full force when we were there (you need to be there at high tide for that) but essentially the water rushes against the rocks with such force that it comes straight up.
It was so windy that you couldn't even hold the camera still!
We spent the night in Punakaiki in a little hostel right on the beach. Before dinner, four of us walked down the street to explore some caverns. They weren't very big but it was still fun to crawl around in. There were even a couple of glowworms to see! We also walked along the top of some giant rocks at the waters edge and watched the tide come in closer and closer. Some of us went to the tavern that night where the boys played some pool and the rest of us just sat around and talked before turning in for the night.