Paparoa National Park is located on the northern part of the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand, about halfway between the towns of Westport and Greymouth.  The small community of Punakaiki has a few services for visitors, but the whole area is very rugged and scenic.   The prevailing winds come from the Tasman Sea to the west and the area can be quite wet, but we arrived in good weather and enjoyed exploring the beaches, trails, headlands, caves, and park faciliities.

On the east side above the coastline is the granite Paparoa Range, but underlying the hills is limestone, the reason for the carved river canyons, cave systems, high coastal cliffs, and the “pancake rocks” on Dolomite Point.

Trails go up the river valleys into the hills and we were able to do a loop route through the forest.

The broadleaf forest features nikau palms, podocarps, rata trees, and beech trees.   Lush vegetation including ferns and vines fill in the understory.

We followed the Pororari River upstream for 3.5 km, then climbed over a ridge into the Punakaiki River Valley on a loop of 11 km.   A swing bridge connected the trail to the access road.

On the way back, we passed Dolomite Point and stopped for another look at the  limestone “pancake stacks.”

Along our loop, on the inland side are limestone cliffs and the Punakaiki Cavern.   The underground passages go deeper into the hills and there were a few stalactites, karst formations, and some glow worms deeper in the longer chambers.  I was able to work my way back for a few hundred meters before having to crawl through ever-narrower tunnels, then turned back while I still could, covered in cave mud from scrambling through tight spots on my own, thankful for my headlamp.

On the road north of Punakaiki, we also hiked the Truman Track, a short trail through mature podocarp forest down to seacliffs and a secluded beach.

We would have liked to have stayed in the area longer, but poor weather was coming in the next day, so we chose to find drier spots in Otago,  a few hours of driving along Highway 6 to the southeast.

• A related article – Punakaiki
• Paparoa National Park