On the 27th, we woke up bright and early, made some breakfast, and were off to Mt. Brown. The start of the trail is located about half an hour from Hokitika. We all strapped on our backpacks, which had food and water, and headed up the trail. The incline started nice and mellow, so we gave’r along the trail till we got to a creek, which was pretty cool to see in the middle of the forest. After we crossed it, the trail started to get steeper. Not just a little steeper, like, climb up the side of a mountain steep.
After 2 hours, and almost dying (long story) I reached the top. It was a gorgeous view up there. A little hut was located at the top. Sadly, the boys had already made it up and started heading down before I got there (like I said, long story), so I was all my lonesome. First thing I did was chug a TON of water from the shack’s tap, and then ate more crackers. In the hut was a plaque honoring everyone who’d helped build the trails and hut. Our buddy Andrew Osnach and Nick’s stepdad were on the plaque and their picture was in the book. So that was pretty cool. I snapped some pictures of the area, and made my way back down to the bottom. After regrouping with the guys, we went for some celebratory fish and chips at Corky’s, then headed home to rest for the night.
We awoke the next day with a much chiller day in mind. Our plans were to head to the Pancake Rocks. We got on the road around 9:00. On a whim, we decided to check out the Monteith’s Brewery Tour as well. It was really awesome. We went on the 11:30 tour, and saw how they made the 8 brews they’re currently offering at the moment. Then we got to try them all. We also got to pour our own beer and take pictures. The whole tour only cost $18 NZD, which is well worth it I’d say. To kill some time, since Pancake Rocks are best at high tide, 4 o’clock, we headed to the Greymouth skatepark. The kids there were really young, and very interested in where we were from, and the fact that all of our boards were the same. We stayed there for an hour, then started the 40 minute drive to the Pancake Rocks in Punakaiki. There were some cool stops along the road along the way, since it was a coastal drive.
The Pancake Rocks are a huge tourist attraction. They look like many stacks of pancakes. There were tons of cars and busses when we got there. It took around an hour to walk around in there, and we jumped the fence and went right down by the water. Got some really good pictures from there. Right when we got back to our cars, we saw these two crazy birds walking around the parking lot. We tried to feed them a stick and get them close to us, and I got some good pictures of them as well. On the way back to Hokitika, we stopped at a random service road and walked for a bit, assuming there would be SOMETHING at the end. Alas, there was nothing. Tomorrow, we’re leaving on a 4 day road trip to Nelson and back, in hopes of some nice beaches, and beautiful sights.
Mt. Brown and the Pancake Rocks
On the 27th, we woke up bright and early, made some breakfast, and were off to Mt. Brown. The start of the trail is located about half an hour from Hokitika. We all strapped on our backpacks, which had food and water, and headed up the trail. The incline started nice and mellow, so we gave’r along the trail till we got to a creek, which was pretty cool to see in the middle of the forest. After we crossed it, the trail started to get steeper. Not just a little steeper, like, climb up the side of a mountain steep.
After 2 hours, and almost dying (long story) I reached the top. It was a gorgeous view up there. A little hut was located at the top. Sadly, the boys had already made it up and started heading down before I got there (like I said, long story), so I was all my lonesome. First thing I did was chug a TON of water from the shack’s tap, and then ate more crackers. In the hut was a plaque honoring everyone who’d helped build the trails and hut. Our buddy Andrew Osnach and Nick’s stepdad were on the plaque and their picture was in the book. So that was pretty cool. I snapped some pictures of the area, and made my way back down to the bottom. After regrouping with the guys, we went for some celebratory fish and chips at Corky’s, then headed home to rest for the night.
We awoke the next day with a much chiller day in mind. Our plans were to head to the Pancake Rocks. We got on the road around 9:00. On a whim, we decided to check out the Monteith’s Brewery Tour as well. It was really awesome. We went on the 11:30 tour, and saw how they made the 8 brews they’re currently offering at the moment. Then we got to try them all. We also got to pour our own beer and take pictures. The whole tour only cost $18 NZD, which is well worth it I’d say. To kill some time, since Pancake Rocks are best at high tide, 4 o’clock, we headed to the Greymouth skatepark. The kids there were really young, and very interested in where we were from, and the fact that all of our boards were the same. We stayed there for an hour, then started the 40 minute drive to the Pancake Rocks in Punakaiki. There were some cool stops along the road along the way, since it was a coastal drive.
The Pancake Rocks are a huge tourist attraction. They look like many stacks of pancakes. There were tons of cars and busses when we got there. It took around an hour to walk around in there, and we jumped the fence and went right down by the water. Got some really good pictures from there. Right when we got back to our cars, we saw these two crazy birds walking around the parking lot. We tried to feed them a stick and get them close to us, and I got some good pictures of them as well. On the way back to Hokitika, we stopped at a random service road and walked for a bit, assuming there would be SOMETHING at the end. Alas, there was nothing. Tomorrow, we’re leaving on a 4 day road trip to Nelson and back, in hopes of some nice beaches, and beautiful sights.