Just before the labour weekend rolled around, J suggested we all take a trip to the West Coast to explore the area. Since none of us had any idea about the area.
Grey Mouth is about three hours drive from Christchurch and we took the Arthur Pass route.To say that the scenic drive was spectacular ,would be an understatement
The first stop was Castle Hill, which are interesting rock formations .This kind of set the tone for our trip
The terrain itself is so different on each side the mountain. As we went up the mountains the long stretches of the dark grey river beds with streams trickling by and dull brown beech trees, were a feast to the eyes.
The steep scary down hill drive that would lead into the rainforest like terrain with ferns and lilies everywhere, came as a big surprise. The gorge and the bridges simply breathtaking!
This was a budget trip for us and so we stayed in the Kiwi Holiday Park , with its self -containted kitchen, lounge, toilets was very convenient and clean.
We however decided to sleep in tents, true Kiwi style.Crawling on all fours trying to get into the tent, sleeping with hot water bottles in my sleeping bag so as not to freeze into an icicle , maybe are fun things to try once in a lifetime, but its not something I look forward to repeating again for fun 🙂 
The whole town was shut down for a Bike race 
and so Pancake Rocks was to be our next destination.
Rugged mountains on one side the vast wide ocean on the other, the beauty left us speechless. At the entrance of the Paparoa National Park, a Weka ,another flightless native New Zealand Bird, took to greeting the visitors
Inside at the park, a very well laid out trail leads to mind-blowing natural beauty. 
The visual treat is overwhelming as your eyes are torn between admiring the rock formations that look like pancakes stacked one above the other 
and the rock formations that look like humans, the rugged silent rocks providing the perfect foil for the boisterous waves
and home for nesting birds high up on them. .
On this trip,I did not cook, but picked up different salads and food from Countdown, the supermarket and had a picnic by the river at noon
scoured the beach for pebbles and driftwood, in the evening, ate dinner at Pizza Hut .
Unprofessional campers that we were, couldn’t take in the idea of shivering in our tents to sleep and so decided to pack our tents and head back back home.
The steep drive down the mountains, covered in thick fog afforded some scary , nail biting moments, but by God’s grace, we all made it home in one piece, and fell into our beds with grateful hearts.
