The limestone ( pancake ) rocks at Punakaiki are an interesting landscape feature. There is a sealed path  which allows you to get close to the rocks ( and the blowholes if the tide is high ). It is about a thirty minute walk. Often there are seabirds nesting close to you, and dolphins sometimes can be seen not far off the shoreline.

The Tui is one of New Zealand's most attractive birds. It has a sheen on most of its shades of green body. It is sometimes called the parson bird, for under its neck it has a white wattle. Here the bird is using its long beak to get into a kowhai flower. The kowhai is one of our most prized native plants.