The West Coast and Otago

Greetings,

We have been driving fools since we last posted in Nelson. The landscape is so beautiful here that we have found it easy to drive all day and, as a result, we are ahead of schedule, as we are currently resting comfortably in a rather large “motel” room (or what I would call a full apartment) on Lake Tekapo. It is lovely. But, we did not just up and drive here, we hit several awesome spots on the way, so let’s go through them in order:

On Sunday, we drove from Nelson to Karamea, a really tiny town in the northwest part of the south island. Here, we explored magnificent lime arches and walls and cool caves that contained bones of the extinct moa bird. The photos did not come out as well as we had hoped, but they will give you an idea of what we saw … for more, check out our web album: http://picasaweb.google.com/jenniemerrill/Karamea?authkey=q96IFBHmgc8

Limestone viewed from our kayaks

Entrance to the "lost" or "fourth" limestone arch

Stalactites in the Honeycomb Caves

More Stalactites in the Honeycomb Caves

On Tuesday, we drove from Karamea down the west coast and across the gorgeous Haast Pass to the top of Lake Wanaka, stopping to check out a seal colony and the Franz Josef Glacier on the way. Even though half of the 11-hour drive was rainy, it was stunning. It is amazing how the landscape changes and evolves here. Rocky coasts, lush forests and then big, steep, grassy and/or snowcapped mountains. How often can one drive from a subtropical rainforest, to a glacier and then a lake surrounded by mountains in one day? Here is some of what we saw:

Franz Josef Glacier

Our final stop was a great campsite right on Lake Wanaka. Here we enjoyed beautiful sunset views and a nice fire (though we could have done without the sandflies).

Lake Wanaka (from our campground)

On Wednesday, we drove to Queenstown and then up to Lake Tepako. One remarkable thing about this path were the fields of lupine we passed. The road is lined with them and from time to time you pass vast fields of the flowers in varying pink, purple and yellow shades. It is absolutely beautiful. Queenstown was quite nice as well. Here we tasted the best burger we have ever tried and finished our meal with some tasty wines at a nearby winery. We then made our way up toward Christchurch, stopping at Lake Tekapo to sleep. On our way north, we passed Mt. Cook, the highest peak in New Zealand. As you can see, it is magnificent.

Mt. Cook

Lake Tekapo

Jennie & Flat Sandy in some lupine

You can check out more photos of this portion of our trip on this web album: http://picasaweb.google.com/jenniemerrill/FranzJosefToLakeTekapo?authkey=-loY2wavp20

Tomorrow we are off to Christchurch for our final two nights. Hope everyone is well at home.

Abel Tasman National Park

We're back from our amazing kayak/backpacking trip in the Abel Tasman National Park. It was so beautiful. The kayaking was definitely a bit more challenging than we were expecting (strong headwinds and big waves) but we made it through unscaved (and a bit buffer, I would hope). The campsites were lovely and each had at least one resident bird that amused us.

These pictures don't do the trip justice, but here you go:

One of the bays as seen from the track.

View from the kayak (a calm part)

hiking was stunning

home sweet home, the view from our accommodation in Nelson.

We have also throroughly enjoyed our accommodation at the Wheelhouse Inn in Nelson. The Captain's Quarters are delightful with all the amenities one would need at the end of a four-day treck in the woods. We were even treated to a complimentary bottle of champagne to celebrate our honeymoon. We do not want to go, but we must move on.

For more pictures, check out this web album: http://picasaweb.google.com/jenniemerrill/AbelTasmanNelson?authkey=6N7Dcb3hsxg#

Burp, bubble, hiss ...

The north island is like no other place. The ground emits all sorts of sounds (and smells). Mud bubbles, water boils, and ponds are green, orange and teal. It is too cool! Check out these cool photos:

Boiling mud.

Boiling colorful water.

Even Flat Sandy got in on the fun. Here she is at the mud pool:




Today we had planned to hike the Tongariro Crossing. Sadly, Mother Nature had other plans for us so we opted to take a much easier and shorter hike to a waterfall. As you can see, the day did not lend itself to the "breathtaking views" that the Tongariro Crossing is famous for. Oh well, we'll just have to return another time ....

To see more photos and a video of the bubbling mud, check out our web album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jenniemerrill/NorthIsland?authkey=XHBmgQSuDGg#

Tomorrow we are off for the south island to go on a 4-day hiking/kayaking trip. We'll check back in once we return.