The adventure began last Saturday when Samara, Anna, Marina
and I left Dunedin for Wanaka. As
it was my first time driving on the opposite side of the road (oh yes- New
Zealanders drive on the left side of the road) it was a first for me! It was fairly confusing figuring out
when and where to turn in the city, the highway driving is basically the same
(particularly because the highways are one lane, so there isn’t much lane
changing going on). In any event,
we arrived in Wanaka at around 11 pm, and checked into a hostel for the
evening. Wanaka was just a stop
along our journey.
The next morning, we woke up early to drive from Wanaka to
the Fox Glacier. The drive was
absolutely breathtaking.
Fox Glacier
We arrived in the afternoon, and Samara and I went on a four
our tour of the Glacier. We had a
really nice tour guide who was kind enough to answer my stupid questions
(a.k.a. “What is a Galcier?”). I
was exhausted by the end of the trip, because Samara was making me laugh so
hard because she had a serious crush on our tour guide. The guide gave us all walking poles,
and “cramp-ons” to attach onto our shoes for the hike. We crawled through ice holes, put mud
on our faces (special sludge used in face masks), and saw a nearby rockfall. The Glacier itself was really cool,
although not bind blowing… but we had a GREAT time.
After the tour, we drove a few more hours father north and
slept in a town called Greymouth. The
next morning we continued our journey north and made two stops along the way.
Punakaiki
The first stop was at a place called Punakaiki where we saw
the “pancake rocks”. As you can
see from the pictures, the pancake rocks are very interesting rock formations
along the coast that look like pancakes.
Since we were there around high tide, we also saw some blow holes which
was really cool!
Stop # 2
The second stop was also along the coast, I can’t remember
what it was called. But there was
supposed to be a seal colony there. Although we didn’t really get a good look
at the seals, there was a gorgeous walk along the coast. It was a great spot to enjoy the beauty
and stretch out legs.
At the end of the day, we finally arrived in a small town called Marahau. Marahau is a sweet little town on the beach. I went for a nice run along the beach, and then enjoyed a few glasses of wine with the girls overlooking the Tasman Bay. Marahau is right next to the start of Abel Tasman national park, where we would spend the next part of our journey…
Abel Tasman National Park
The next morning we awoke, eager and excited to begin our two-night camping/kayaking adventure in Abel Tasman National Park. Before setting out though, I put in a call to Jory since it was October 29th—Jory’s Birthday!!! Always nice to speak to ya Jor Man!!! SHOUT OUT if you are reading this!!!
As I soon learned, Abel Tasman is so much more than a national
park. It is literally what you
would imagine paradise to look like.
Lush green mountains, abandoned beaches, turqoise water, and marine
life! The fact that my Kiwi Host
has a summer home just next to the park makes me want to become a Kiwi (if I
didn’t want to already).
We rented two tandem kayaks, a tent, and a gas cooker from a
company called Kahu Kayaks (which was recommended to me). By the time we had packed up the kayaks
and were ready to go, it was already mid-day.
In any event, we finally arrived at Anchorage Bay in the early afternoon, and the Kahu Kayaks crew had arranged to have our extra bags delivered by water taxi to our campsite. We set up camp, and then spent the remainder of the day basking in suns rays and swimming! As per Samara's great idea, I even carved a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" Message to Jory in the sand!!!
That night, we were greeted by a whole group of 13 year old students on school outing. Despite our initial concern, the group was actually very well behaved and quiet at night. MAN! If only my school trips involved a camp out in paradise!!! We had pasta for dinner, using our gas cooker, and then chatted by the firepit with some other backpackers.
We spent several hours kayaking through Abel Tasman national
park looking to arrive at a beach called Anchorage Bay, where we were to spend
the night. The Kayak was beautiful
and it was a gorgeous and sunny outside! The actual kayaking was a bit
difficult though, because we had so much stuff in our kayaks, and the wind was
working against us. We stopped for
lunch at a random abandoned beach that we found along the way. I felt like I was in a scene for
survivor!!!
In any event, we finally arrived at Anchorage Bay in the early afternoon, and the Kahu Kayaks crew had arranged to have our extra bags delivered by water taxi to our campsite. We set up camp, and then spent the remainder of the day basking in suns rays and swimming! As per Samara's great idea, I even carved a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" Message to Jory in the sand!!!
That night, we were greeted by a whole group of 13 year old students on school outing. Despite our initial concern, the group was actually very well behaved and quiet at night. MAN! If only my school trips involved a camp out in paradise!!! We had pasta for dinner, using our gas cooker, and then chatted by the firepit with some other backpackers.
The next morning, we set out for day 2 of kayaking. It was sunny, 24 degrees celcius, clear
skies, and gorgeous!!! The
highlight of the day was the seals which were swimming around our kayaks, and
popping out form underneath us!!!
It was SUCH a special experience J We stopped for lunch at another beach called Bark
Bay, and then explored a bit further down the way by kayak.
At about 3pm, we abandoned our kayaks at Bark Bay (Kahu Kayaks was going to pick up our kayaks from there), and we set out back the way we came. But this time, we were hiking along the Abel Tasman Coast Track. This track is another one of NZ’s “9 Great Walks”. The track itself is also beautiful, and offered great views of the coast, but I was very happy that we had done the kayaking before hand because the kayaking allowed us to get a different perspective on the park, and be out on the water!!!
It was a 3 hour hike back (we walked the long way to check out “Cleopatra’s Pool”). We arrived back at Anchorage Bay around dinner time. After a quick dip in the sea, the girls (yes, not me) started cooking us a delicious meal—veggies, rice, and beans!!! It was delicious. The only thing better, was when the student group chaperone came over to offer us the leftover cake that the group didn’t finish (chocolate banana cake… mmmm).
The next morning, we packed up our tents, sleeping bags, and all our belongings in preparation for the 3 hour hike back to Marahau. Stupidly, I had not left enough of my stuff back in Marahau so my bag was BULGING with unnecessary gear (extra shoes, shampie/conditioner, YOU NAME IT). It made the hike back (which was mostly a flat road) quite tiring!
But anyhow, we finally arrived in Marahau and returned all of our rented equipment, and then hit the road to Christchurch!
 |
| Seal!!! |
At about 3pm, we abandoned our kayaks at Bark Bay (Kahu Kayaks was going to pick up our kayaks from there), and we set out back the way we came. But this time, we were hiking along the Abel Tasman Coast Track. This track is another one of NZ’s “9 Great Walks”. The track itself is also beautiful, and offered great views of the coast, but I was very happy that we had done the kayaking before hand because the kayaking allowed us to get a different perspective on the park, and be out on the water!!!
It was a 3 hour hike back (we walked the long way to check out “Cleopatra’s Pool”). We arrived back at Anchorage Bay around dinner time. After a quick dip in the sea, the girls (yes, not me) started cooking us a delicious meal—veggies, rice, and beans!!! It was delicious. The only thing better, was when the student group chaperone came over to offer us the leftover cake that the group didn’t finish (chocolate banana cake… mmmm).
 |
| Cleopatra's Pool |
|
| Cleopatra's Pool |
The next morning, we packed up our tents, sleeping bags, and all our belongings in preparation for the 3 hour hike back to Marahau. Stupidly, I had not left enough of my stuff back in Marahau so my bag was BULGING with unnecessary gear (extra shoes, shampie/conditioner, YOU NAME IT). It made the hike back (which was mostly a flat road) quite tiring!
But anyhow, we finally arrived in Marahau and returned all of our rented equipment, and then hit the road to Christchurch!
We slept at Anna’s friend’s place in Christchurch that night. The next morning we took a quick drive through downtown Christchurch to try and see how the city was being rebuilt after the big earthquake that destroyed the city two years beforehand. There was a lot of construction going on, and I know that houses are being repaired for all the damage. I was told by the students that there are no bars in the downtown core anymore because they were all destroyed (sucks). We finally arrived back in Dunedin in the afternoon.
After a spectacular journey through paradise I am really
left with two thoughts: (1) I am
sick of camping. (2) I would love
to return to this amazing place with my loved ones J
I miss everyone at home!!!
xo
