On the west coast of New Zealand about 45km north of Greymoith.
Punakaiki
Punakaiki is a Māori word that translates to "cabbage tree" in English. The term is often associated with the Punakaiki region on the West Coast of New Zealand, known for its stunning natural features, including the Pancake Rocks and blowholes. The name reflects the area's indigenous culture and the significance of local flora.
Punakaiki is one of the largest tourist attractions on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Its small township is best known for its unique and spectacular pancake rocks and blow-holes.
For a relaxing stay in Punakaiki, consider motels that offer stunning coastal views and easy access to the Pancake Rocks. Punakaiki Resort and Ocean View Retreat are top choices, providing comfort and scenic surroundings. If you're looking for more amenities, The Ashley Hotel Greymouth is a great option just a short drive away, offering modern rooms, a pool, and a restaurant. Whether you prefer staying by the beach or in a well-equipped hotel nearby, you'll find excellent accommodations to enjoy Punakaiki’s natural beauty.
The Punakaiki Pancake rocks are located in the West Coast of the South Island, New Zealand.
Rocks line the coast near Punakaiki on the West Coast of the South Island of New Zealand which resemble that of pancakes due to the flatness that they possess. All the rocks stand in a unique rock formations and when the sunset illuminates the New Zealand sky, the tops of the Pancake Rocks soak up the sun's rays. Punakaiki, New Zealand has become famous because of the Pancake Rocks which are made up of limestone that began to form approximately thirty million years ago. When sea creatures expired, the lime fragments from these animals were left along the seabed and mud and clay formed atop of them. After many earthquakes, the seabed continued to rise well above sea level
The Southern Alps , the Fox glacier in the South Island, Mount Ruapehu, Mount Aspiring , Mount Cook Mount Egmont, Fiordland which is a wilderness of mountains, fiords, forests and lakes.The Huka Falls. The Moeraki Boulders which are almost perfectly shaped rock balls on the east coast of the south Island north of Dunedin. The Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki The geysers -pronounced guy-zers not geezers - and the boiling mud pools in the Rotorua area. Years ago we had the Pink and White Terraces too which were sadly destroyed in a volcanic eruption.
Waikiki, volcanoes, Diamond Head, Pearl Harbor, the ocean, the weather, surfing, macadamia nuts, pineapples. If you've ever lived there, they're famous for never finishing the building of highways. Any time native human remains are found, the entire highway has to be rerouted.
The land mass now known as New Zealand was first discovered by Polynesian explorers and settled by people we now know as Maori. It was 'discovered' again by Europeans in the eighteenth century. The story of its discovery by Europeans is a relatively simple one, the story of its original discovery by Polynesians rather more complex.The first European to sight New Zealand was Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman who sailed out of Batavia (Jakarta) with two ships on a mission in search of the Terra Australis Incognita, the undiscovered southern continent that was thought to exist somewhere in the southern part of the Pacific. It was a mission in search of new trading opportunities for the Dutch East India company. On the 13th of December, 1642 the expedition sighted land at Perpindicular Point, near Punakaiki, on the West Coast of the South Island. Tasman sailed northwards, around Farewell Spit and into Taitapu or Golden Bay, anchoring his ships there on the 18th and here Europeans and Maori 'met' for the first time. Unfortunately, due to communication problems, this encounter between the Tasman expedition and Ngati Tumatakokiri turned into a violent one. Tasman, with orders not to engage in warfare, left without ever setting foot on this new land. He called it Staten Land assuming it to be an extension of the bottom of South America. Later, when this was seen to be clearly wrong, an unknown Dutch cartographer renamed it Nova Zelandia after the Dutch province of Zeeland.Over a century later a Royal Navy expedition commanded by Lieutenant James Cook, having been in Tahiti to observe the transit of the planet Venus across the face of the Sun, headed southward on the second part of its mission which was also to search for the Terra Australis Incognita. On the 8th of October, 1769 Cook's ship Endeavour entered Poverty Bay on the North Island's East Coast and the second encounter between Maori and Europeans took place. Although this meeting also involved violence, far better communication with the local Rongowhakaata Iwi (tribe) was possible due to the the presence on board the Endeavour of a Tahitian named Tupaia and also to Cook's diplomatic attitude toward dealing with non-Europeans. Cook went on to circumnavigate and very accurately map this new country, assembling information on the land and the Maori he interacted with. His reports would greatly interest the authorities back home in Britain.On the other hand, there is very little that can be said with any certainty about the Polynesian discovery of New Zealand. The common myth is that a Polynesian explorer named Kupe was the first person to discover New zealand and that this occurred probably about 950 AD. Kupe had travelled in his waka (canoe) named Matahorua with his wife and family and possibly accompanied by another waka named Tawirirangi captained by Ngahue. After many trials Kupe saw a great white cloud in the sky signifying that they had finally reached land which he named Aotearoa (the long white cloud). Other Polynesian adventurers, named Toi and Whatonga, followed between 1000 and 1150, and then the great ocean-going waka brought the settlers who would colonise the new land and become the Maori. This, or variations of it, is the myth that has been taught in New Zealand schools since the turn of the 20th century but it has very little basis in fact and is even possibly a largely Pakeha (European) invention as its source is an amateur ethnologist named Stephenson Percy Smith. There may be no actual Maori basis for this myth as there is no early widespread use of the name Kupe or even Aotearoa among Iwi and little consensus on Polynesian discovery. We do know that Polynesian exploration followed a pattern that was deliberate, wide-ranging and two-way. Archaeology indicates that human settlement of New Zealand occurred sometime in the later part of the 13th century, between 1250 and 1300. There is no evidence of settlement before this time (of course, there is no real evidence that it didn't occur before this time). There are studies of Polynesian Rat (Kiore) bones found, which would indicate a Polynesian landing in New Zealand, that carbon-dating has revealed to be approximately 2000 years old but the academic jury is still out. In parts of North Island the name Kupe does appear in early placenames which would indicate that someone named Kupe left descendants and at a reasonably early time.So what little we can say with certainty is that sometime between 2000 and 760 years ago a deliberate Polynesian voyage of exploration discovered the land we now call New Zealand . We don't know the name of the leader of this expedition but if he has to have a name then Kupe is probably as good as any other.Sources include 'The Penguin History of New Zealand' by Michael King, 2004,and 'The Quest for origins: Who first discovered and Settled New Zealand and the Pacific Islands' by K. R. Howe, 2008.
Aan River Acheron River Ada River Adams River Ahaura River Ahuriri River Ahuroa River Akatarawa River Akitio River Alexander River Alfred River Allen River Alma River Anatoki River Anatori River Anaweka River Anne River Anti Crow River Aongatete River Aorangiwai River Aorere River Aparima River Arahura River Arapaoa River Araparera River Arawhata River Arnold River Arnst River Aropaoanui River Arrow River Arthur River Ashley River Avoca River Avon River Awakari River Awakino River Awanui River Awapoko River Awapoto River Awarau River Awaroa River Awarua River Awatere River Awhea River Balfour River Barlow River Barn River Barrier River Baton River Bealey River Beaumont River Beautiful River Bettne River Big River Big Wainihinihi River Blackwater River Blairich River Blind River Blind River Blue Duck River Blue Grey River Blue River Bluff River Blythe River Bonar River Boulder River Bowen River Boyle River Branch River Broken River Brown Grey River Brown River Buller River Burke River 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Mangawhero River Mangere River Mangles River Mangonuiowae River Mangorewa River Manuherikia River Maori River Maraehara River Maraekakaho River Maraetaha River Maraetotara River Marahau River Maramarua River Maramataha River Mararoa River Marchburn River Marokopa River Maropea River Martyr River Maruia River Mason River Mata River Matahaka River Mataikona River Matakana River Matakitaki River Matakohe River Mataroa River Mataura River Mathias River Matiri River Matukituki River Little Grey River McRae River Medina River Medway River Mike River Mikonui River Mimi River Miner River Mingha River Mistake River Misty River Moawhango River Moawhango West River Moeangiangi River Moeraki River Mohaka River Mohakatino River Mokau River Mokihinui River Mokomokonui River Mokoreta River Monowai River Montgomerie River Morgan River Morse River Motatapu River Motu River Motueka River Motukaika River Motunau River Motupiko River Motupipi River Motuti River Moutere River Mowbray River Mueller River 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Opurehu River Orangipuku River Orari River Orauea River Orere River Oreti River Orewa River Orikaka or Mackley River Orira River Orongorongo River Oroua River Orowaiti River Oruaiti River Oruawharo River Oruru River Orutua River Otahu River Otaio River Otaki River Otama River Otamatapaio River Otamatea River Otara River Otaua River Otehake River Otekaieke River Otematata River Otere River Oterei River Otiake River Otira River Otoko River Otorehinaiti River Otto River Otututu River Otuwhero River Ounuora River Ourauwhare River Over The River Owahanga River Owaka River Owen River Pahaoa River Pahau River Pahi River Pahu River Pairatahi River Pakarae River Pakiri River Pakoka River Pakowhai River Pakuratahi River Pandora River Papakanui River Parapara River Pareora River Paringa River Pariwhakaoho River Park River Patarau River Pataua River Patea River Paturau River Patutahi River Pearse River Pearson River Pelorus River Penk River Percival River Peria River Perth River Perunui River Phantom River Piako River Pitt River Pleasant River Poerua River Pohangina River Pohuenui River Pokororo River Pomahaka River Pongaroa River Porangahau River Poroporo River Pororari River Porter River Postal River Potts River Pouawa River Poulter River Pourakino River Pourangaki River Price River Puerua River Puhi Puhi River Puhoi River Pukaki River Punakaiki River Punakitere River Pungapunga River Puniu River Pupuke River Purakaunui River Purangi River Puremahaia River Puriri River Pyke River Racehorse River Rahu River Rai River Rainbow River Rainy River Rakaia River Rakeahua River Rangiora River Rangitaiki River Rangitane River Rangitata River Rangitikei River Rappahannock River Raukokore River Rea River Red Pyke River Red River Rees River Rerewhakaaitu River Retaruke River Ripia River Riwaka River Roaring Lion River Robertson River Robinson River Rocky River Roding River Rogerson River Rolleston River Rolling River Ronga River Rooney River Rotokakahi River Rotokino River Rotowhenua River Ruakaka River Ruakituri River Ruakokoputuna River Ruamahanga River Rubicon River Ruera River Rum River Ryton River Sabine River Saxon River Saxton River Seaforth River Seaward River Selwyn River Serpentine River Severn River Shag River Shenandoah River Sherry River Shin River Shotover River Sinclair River Skeet River Slate River Smite River Smoothwater River Smyth River Snow River Snowy River South Mathias River South Ohau River South Opuha River Southern Waiotauru River Spey River Spoon River Spray River Stafford River Stanley River Stanton River Station Creek or Sheriff River Stillwater River Stony River Stour River Strauchon River Styx River Swift River Swin River Taylor River Tadmor River Tahaenui River Tahakopa River Taharua River Taheke River Tahekeroa River Tahoranui River Taieri River Taiharuru River Taihiki River Taipa River Taipo River Taipoiti River Tairua River Takahue River Takaka River Takaputahi River Takiritawai River Takou River Talbot River Tamaki River Tangahoe River Tangarakau River Tapu River Tapuaeroa River Tapuwae River Taramakau River Tarawera River Taringamotu River Taruarau River Taruheru River Tasman River Tass River Tauanui River Tauherenikau River Tauhoa River Taumona River Tauranga River Tauranga Taupo River Taurangakautuku River Tauraroa River Tautuku River Tauweru River Tawapuku River Tawarau River Tawatahi River Taylor River Te Arai River Te Hoe River Te Kapa River Te Mata River Te Naihi River Te Putaaraukai River Te Rahotaiepa River Te Wharau or Stony River Teal River Tekapo River Teme River Temuka River Tengawai River Teviot River Thomas River Thurso River Timaru River Tinline River Tinui River Tiraumea River Toaroha River Tohoratea River Toitoi River Tokanui River Tokomairiro River Tokomaru River Tolson River Tone River Tongaporutu River Tongariro River Topuni River Torere River Torrent River Totara River Totarakaitorea River Townshend River Towy River Transit River Travers River Trent River Troyte River Tuamarina River Tuapeka River Tuke River Tukipo River Tukituki River Tummil River Tunakino River Turakina River Turanganui River Turimawiwi River Turnbull River Tutaekuri River Tutaki River Tutoko River Tweed River Twizel River Uawa River Ugly River Upper Grey River Upukerora River Urenui River Utakura River Victoria River Von River Wahianoa River Wai-iti River Waianakarua River Waianiwaniwa River Waiapu River Waiariki River Waiaruhe River Waiatoto River Waiau River Waiaua River Waihaha River Waihao River Waiheke River Waihi River Waiho River Waihoihoi River Waihopai River Waihora River Waihou/Thames River Waihua River Waihuka River Waikaia River Waikakaho River Waikakariki River Waikamaka River Waikanae River Waikare River Waikaretaheke River Waikari River Waikato River Waikawa River Waikawau River Waikiti River Waikoau River Waikohu River Waikoropupu River Waikorure River Waikouaiti River Waikukupa River Waikura River Waima River Waimakariri River Waimamakau River Waimamaku River Waimana River Waimangarara River Waimangaroa River Waimarino River Waimata River Waimea River Waimeamea River Waingaro River Waingaromia River Waingawa River Waingongoro River Wainui River Wainuiomata River Wainuiora River Wainuioru River Waioeka River Waiohine River Waiomoko River Waionepu River Waiorongomai River Waiotahi River Waiotaka River Waiotama River Waiotauru River Waiotu River Waipa River Waipahi River Waipakihi River Waipaoa River Waipapa River Waipara River Waipati (Chaslands) River Waipawa River Waipekakoura River Waipori River Waipoua River Waipu River Waipunga River Wairahi River Wairaki River Wairau River Wairaurahiri River Waireia River Wairere River Wairoa River Wairongomai River Wairua River Waita River Waitaha River Waitahaia River Waitahanui River Waitahu River Waitahuna River Waitakaruru River Waitakere or Nile River Waitakere River Waitaki River Waitangi River Waitangiroto River Waitangitaona River Waitara River Waitati River Waitawheta River Waitekauri River Waitekuri River Waitepeka River Waitetuna River Waitoa River Waitoetoe River Waitohi River Waitotara River Waitutu River Waiuku River Waiwawa River Waiwera River Waiwhakaiho River Waiwhango River Wakamarina River Wakapuaka River Walker River Wandle River Wanganui River Wangapeka River Wapiti River Warwick River Weheka (Cook) River Weiti River Wentworth River West Mathias River West Waitewaewae River Western Hutt River Whakaikai River Whakaki River Whakanekeneke River Whakapapa River Whakapara River Whakapohai River Whakarapa River Whakatahine River Whakataki River Whakatane River Whakatikei River Whakaurekou River Whanaki River Whangae River Whangaehu River Whangamarino River Whangamaroro River Whangamoa River Whangamomona River Whanganui River Whangaparaoa River Whareama River Whareatea River Wharehine River Wharekahika River Wharekawa River Wharekopae River Wharepapa River Whataroa River Whau River Whawanui River Wheao River Whenuakite River Whenuakura River Whirinaki River Whistler River Whitbourn River Whitcombe River White River White Rock River Whitestone River Whitewater River Wilberforce River Wild Natives River Wilkin River Wilkinson River Willberg River Williamson River Wills River Wilmot River Wilson River Windley River Windward River Winterton River Wolf River Woolley River Wye River Yankee River Yarra River Young River