Paparoa

Declared in 1987, it is celebrated for the Pancake Rocks of Punakaiki, limestone formations layered in horizontal bands that resemble stacks of pancakes, a geological pattern whose exact cause — alternating hard and soft layers eroding differentially — remains the subject of detailed study. Beneath these formations, the swell of the Tasman Sea has carved sea caves and blowholes that force jets of water out under pressure at high tide, especially spectacular in rough seas. The park is also the only known nesting site in the entire world of the Westland petrel, a seabird that nests exclusively in a very small stretch of forest in this region.