Melnq8

We're in the early stages of planning a return visit to SI NZ in August. Have been to Punakaiki before, but have never spent much time there - considering three nights in the area to check out the tracks. Any accommodation recommendations and/or hiking suggestions?

ishki

I was in Punakaiki a couple of weeks ago and stayed at a great house called Flax Haven. The main bedroom upstairs had a fantastic view - the house is almost on the clifftop surrounded by wild flax. Wekas came right up to us and we had to stop them coming into the house. Unfortunately we had rain and fog so the walks had to wait until maybe another trip. We did see the Pancake Rocks shrouded in mist - much more spectacular than I expected. We got lots of information on walks in the area off the internet. There are lots of walks though, and the coastline is gorgeous. We drove on to a restaurant called The Bay House for dinner, which was great, although it took us longer to get there than we expected (about 45 minutes) and it was dark and foggy on the drive home. A bit scary on unknown winding roads with possums and wekas crossing the road.

Melnq8

Thanks ishki -

I ran across Flax Haven in my research before I posted, but was unable to pull up the site for some reason - will keep trying. Where is the Bay House Restaurant?

ishki

I just tried the Flax Haven website and also had trouble, so I suppose it's possible the owners have decided not to rent it for a while, but the same people that own The Rocks Homestay look after Flax Haven and another property called Te Puna - if you go to www.therockshomestay.co.nz you can enquire about Flax Haven. Just between us, I would rather stay at Te Puna or Flax Haven than the homestay - just a personal observation. Anyway, the Bay House cafe is situated at Cape Foulwind. It is right beside the sea and has fantastic views. They have one of the most comprehensive websites I have come across in my travel research - www.bayhousecafe.co.nz - we really loved it, and there aren't many places to eat in Punakaiki, but my advice is to eat very early because it is a bit of a hairy drive back in the dark!

Melnq8

Wow - you drove to Westport for dinner? I'll bet it was a hairy drive back! Currently eyeballing Beach Hideaway in Barrytown (10 minutes from Punakaiki), which has gotten good reviews on Trip Advisor and looks to have all the amenities we'll need. Plus a hot tub, which might be nice after a long winter hike.

Thanks for the websites and the tip on how to contact Flax Haven. I'll look into it.

Just curious - how many nights did you spend in Punakaiki? Did you find enough to do?

Cheers...

Melnq8

Just looked at the Bay House website and now I completely understand why you went there for dinner!

ishki

We only had two nights at Punakaiki. It was a short trip. I flew over to Invercargill to meet up with my husband who had been working there for a week. We looked around Bluff and Invercargill, drove to Te Anau for 2 nights and stayed at The Croft which was probably the highlight of the trip. Went for a day Doubtful Sound cruise, spent 1 night in Wanaka (our favourite place in New Zealand) on the way to Fox Glacier where we did a fantastic helicopter flight landing on the top of the glacier. 1 night in Fox at Sunset Motel which had unbelievable views of Mount Cook, and then on to Punakaiki. It was only a short trip, but as my husband is often working in New Zealand, there are more opportunities to spend more time there and it is only a 3 hour flight from Melbourne. If I was to go to Punakaiki again, I would definitely spend more than 2 nights. I think 3 or 4 would be great.

Melnq8

Thanks again ishki. Oddly enough, despite six previous visits, I'm still finding it a struggle to plan our 22 night itinerary - seems no matter how much time we have, it's never enough.

We prefer to spend at least three nights in a given location, so that should give us plenty of time in Punakaiki to take some of the walks - rain or shine.

Where did you stay in Wanaka? Been there many times, but never stayed overnight, considering doing so this time.

I envy you being so close to NZ.

ishki

We stayed at The Moorings in one of their studio units. They also have 2 bedroom apartments and we have stayed there a couple of years ago for 3 nights. Much more room, but not as good views of the mountains. We have also stayed at Wanaka Springs Lodge, a beautiful B & B, and last October we had 4 nights in a lovely townhouse I found on the web with 3 bedrooms and views forever. The only small problem there was that the owner doesn't have credit card facilities so you either have to do a bank transfer or something similar. If you want to know the website I can get back to you with it. There are some lovely apartments right next door to The Moorings called Lakeside Apartments, but they are too expensive for us - that probably explains why they look empty every time we go to Wanaka.

Melnq8

Bank transfers are definitely a problem. Will take a look at your other suggestions. Also looking at cottages - lots of interesting options.

Pula

Just this past January I did some hiking down the west coast, including a long day around Punakaiki. We did a couple sections of the Inland Pack Track in Paparoa National Park. The first section we did was to Cave Creek and the second was an undulating route that ended at the Pororari River. I haven't the faintest clue how we got to either one! I liked the whole of the second hike better than the first, but Cave Creek itself is very beautiful. It's very well known throughout NZ because it's the place where 14 young kids (in their 20's) were killed when the platform they were standing (jumping) on gave way. That was many years ago and it triggered a massive upgrade in the infrastructure of hiking , bridges, platforms and such from north to south. So, in addition to being beautiful, it's a bit emotional and contemplative.

In between we hiked part of the Truman Track (very different topography) down to a beach where we had lunch.

All was superb, and the weather was only so-so. I can just imagine what it would be like with really clear skies.

For the record, we stayed at two different places, both very, very basic. The first was the more primitive -- although it had all the fundamentals and my room was huge -- but its virtue was its location, right smack on the beach. Punakaiki Cottage Motel. Not a place I would pick to stay and yet I was delighted.

Melnq8

Appreciate your comments Pula. I'm expecting the worst weather-wise (August), but we plan to hike regardless. You've given me some great ideas which I've cut and pasted into my research file.

Pula

BTW, I do remember that it was a rather long drive to the Cave Creek trailhead. At least a half hour from the main drag, and perhaps a bit more. Same thing with the Pororari River hike but perhaps not quite so far. I'm sure the Paparoa NP will have good maps for all this and more, and it's not like you could get lost because you can't -- but it's not a case of hiking out your cabin door. Just so you're psychologically prepped!

Melnq8

Thanks again Pula. You inspired me to take a closer look - I found a great site which lists all the walks you mentioned and a few more -

www.punakaiki.co/nz/walks.htm

Pula

Good work! That's a great website. Just in case anyone else is reading this thread, there's a typo the above URL which amazingly I figured out -- it should be

www.punakaiki.co.nz/walks.htm

Melnq8

ishki -

I'm finally ready to book the Punakaiki portion of our trip. I'm now leaning towards Te Puna and was wondering if you saw it while you were there. If so, any impressions?

Flax Haven's site is still down and my request for info via the Rocks Homestay wasn't answered, although they did respond to my Te Puna request.

Also wondering if you found the studio units at The Moorings in Wanaka small? Seems a huge jump in price between the studio and apartments.

I'm still struggling with picking a place in Wanaka - lots of choices, but many are very expensive as it will be ski season.

ishki

To get to Te Puna, Flax Haven, The Rocks Homestay and a couple of other places you drive down a sort of track with quite heavy vegetation, so all we could see of Te Puna was a corner of the building, but it looks very private and we were all set to stay there until I discovered Flax Haven which had the views we love. As far as The Moorings goes, the studio units are a lot smaller than the 2 bedroom apartments and are what I would call typical motel-size, that is apart from the bed there is a sitting area, of course a bathroom (with bath, which is not as common as you would think) and a little area outside the sliding glass doors with either a paved area on the ground level or upstairs a small balcony(I think). As I think I mentioned in an earlier post, the thing the studio units have all over the apartments is the uninterrupted views. The studio unit block is built in such a way as to impede full views from the apartments of the lake and snow-capped mountains. I would stay there again. Hope this helps.

Melnq8

It does help - thank you.