Abel Tasman, south

We headed up the coast from Nelson and booked a campsite in Kaiteriteri for two nights. Some consider this to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, we tend to agree! The sand here is golden - like light brown sugar, but more orangey. It was like that on all the beaches in Abel Tasman National Park, which we were at the southern end of. The next morning we took a boat ride up the coast of the Abel Tasman Track - the most popular track in New Zealand, and were dropped off at a pristine beach. From there we made our way along the track, hiking for a few hours, stopping at more beaches and swimming holes on the way and ending up at a bay from which we were picked up about 6 hours later for a boat ride back. It was a wonderful day!

Abel Tasman, north

From Kaiteriteri we drove west and climbed one of the highest, curviest roads on the island over to Golden Bay, to the town of Takaka. What a cool place, I could have wandered the shops for hours here! We made use of the library's free wifi, had lunch and the headed to Totaranui, the northern end of the Abel Tasman Track. It's quite a road - very narrow and only single lane in many places due to landslides from massive rainfalls in the last couple years and only two thirds of the way is paved. Nigel got us there safely and we parked for two nights, right beside an estuary and across from the sea.
The skies threatened rain the next morning but we set out anyway, north on the Abel Tasman track from Totaranui up to Separation Point. We hiked over headlands and down to golden beaches, the boys even found a stream to dam up early on. We ended up at a steep rocky climb down to a lighthouse where we ate our lunch while watching seals play on the rocks! The tide was out on the return trek making it much faster and easier to get back to our camper 6 hours after leaving it! It had been another great day of hiking and it never ended up raining!

South Island , Picton to Nelson

The ride over on the Interislander ferry was beautiful! We had a clear, sunny, warm day for our journey from Wellington, across the Cook Strait into the Tory Sound and down the Queen Charlotte Sound. Rory and I saw a couple of little penguins swimming near the boat, otherwise we saw coves and bays and hills of green framing the blue of the sounds. We arrived in Picton and headed west, stopping at a little campsite called Aussie Bay for our first night, right on the water. The next day we headed further west and camped on the Pelorus River. This was a gorgeous green river with great swimming holes with little rapids to boogie board down and smooth granite rocks to jump off! There was a little waterfall we swam under that will be in the next Hobbit movie when it comes out! This was also our introduction to sand flies - tiny like blackflies of Ontario only nastier! We hit Nelson on a Saturday which made me very happy - Saturday Markets! Rory and I wandered around the booths while Liam visited the library and Nigel explored the town.

Traveling South

After our wonderful weekend with the White family, we finally headed south in our campervan, en route to Wellington to catch the Interislander ferry on Thursday March 7th. We spent our first night parked on Lake Taupo with the lake forming the backdrop to our dining/bedroom. The next night found us at Waikenae Beach right on the ocean looking out at Kapiti Island. We arrived in Wellington the day before our ferry was scheduled and spent the entire day downtown on the waterfront. We really enjoyed this bustling city! It reminded us of a smaller version of Vancouver, B.C., with its vibrant waterfront and accessibility. We spent a few hours at the Te Papa Museum which the boys even found to be entertaining due to all the interactive exhibits, and in the evening we lucked upon a circus type performance called 'Campground Chaos' that was great fun, in a little park on the waterfront. Nigel and I took a walk along a pedestrian only street, Cuba street, which was filled with music, bars, cafes and young people, reminding us of our single days of traveling in the past.

Awesome Auckland Weekend

We arrived in Auckland on March 1st, returned our rental car and picked up a campervan, which will be our home for the next two months. It is very comfortable, giving each of us our own space. The boys have their own bunks and there are two tables so they can each work on schoolwork independently.
We parked at our friends house and spent the whole weekend with them: Karen, David and Helena (Lauren was at orchestra camp until Sunday afternoon).
On Friday night we all went to a 'Super Rugby' game! The Auckland Blues vs the Canterbury (Christchurch) Crusaders! I have never seen a rugby game before and neither have Liam or Rory, only Nigel has seen (and played) rugby in the past, but we all enjoyed it - it was fast moving and exciting!! It was not too hard to follow especially with Karen and David explaining things to us and we were cheering with the rest of the Blues fans when they ultimately won 34-15!!

Rangitoto island

Saturday was a fun packed day! David got his boat all ready and took us out on the ocean for a day of boating, hiking, picnicking and tubing! We boated over to Rangitoto and hiked up to the top of the volcanic cone that makes up the island. It was hot and rough going on the volcanic rock but the views of Auckland were awesome from the top. The boys and Helena checked out some lava caves on the way back down. Back on the boat we zipped over to Motuihe island for a picnic lunch and a swim. Then both boys went for a ride on the tube - which they call a 'biscuit' here! Tubing in the ocean!

Around the East Cape

We finally left Mary and Rich's wonderful home and their generous hospitality and headed north around the East Cape. We visited the most easterly lighthouse in the world, East Cape Lighthouse, but not until we had made it up the 700 steps leading to it. Looking out across the ocean we could probably only see about 19 nautical miles but we felt if we looked hard enough we could see all the way to South America!
We enjoyed the scenic coastal drive but the winding roads are tiring for Nigel to drive since they require a lot of concentration and I'm no help because I still am uncomfortable driving on the left side of the road!
We went boogie boarding at Mt. Maunganui despite hearing about the first shark attack in NZ in over 35 years! Thankfully that was on the west coast, far, far away....