Sat 28th April - Kaikoura dolphins!

Headed off early to go on our Dolphin encounter swim. We were all very excited , and not sure if the swim was going ahead as the weather had been bad the day before, but things had settled down enough to go out, tho there was some swell and chop.  We got all suited up, hoods and all !  Water temp was 13 degrees brrrr.  We headed out and found a large pod of about 50 or so.  We all lept in and I have to say for the first 5 mins it was so cold it really hurt. Both boys were crying from the shock, but once we started swimming and got in with the pod  - no one complained.  Apparently the usual length of time swimming is 5-10min at a time,  as the dophins loose interest.. Well this lot loved us, we swam with them for over 40 mins! and they never left us. We dived and sang to keep their attention and they just mobbed, circled and zoomed at us the whole time. So close they almost were rubbing shoulders with you at times.  We were told to look them in the eyes and circle around with them which they really responded to. They really did look you in they eye , and you felt like you were communicating– I was overwhelmed emotionally. Never had an experience like that ever....

After a hot hot shower and some lunch we headed out to Kaikoura point hwere we saw yet again another seal colony, mind you half of them were lying in the carpark!  Then a whitebait pattie and some garlic scallops at the iconic roadside Kaikoura BBQ van.   Another glorious sunset by the sea with , yes, another bottle of sav blanc. What a day...

Friday 27th April. Nelson to Kaikoura.

View from my bed in the morning.

Raining very heavily this morning, first real rain we have had. Sadly had to leave our beautiful view over Nelson. But more adventures await!The weather over the past two weeks has been abnormally dry and calm, so the locals say.  We headed out along an extremely windy coastal road along the Marlborough Sound, such a big area of deep water and huge, heavily vegetated islands dropping steeply into the sound.  Our journey took us through Havelock (Mussel capital of NZ ) then through Picton.  

We finally made it to Bleihem, wine capital of NZ, and had a divine lunch of blue cheese soufflé with pear and pecan salad at Wairau River Winery . The boys gorged on really delicious wood fired pizzas.  We then of course enjoyed some wine tasting, and they really were all good.

Hard to see but there are about 40 pups
swimming in the pool!

Our travels then took  us on to Kaikoura on the East coast. Along the way some locals told us we had to visit a waterfall close to the coast road. We stopped and headed up the walkway which ran along a creek, which ran from the sea up to a waterfall. All along the way we kept seeing all these baby seals making their way either upsteam or downstream. At the waterfall the pool was literally boiling with pups jumping all over the place. We estimated there were at least 40-50 in the pool let alone all the others we saw on the way up. It really was one of the most amazing experiences – I have never seen anything like it. They mums have them up there so the pups are safe and they stay up there until they are weaned. The mums are all on the roacks by the sea and the pups travel down the creek to them every few days for a feed then back up to their waterfall.

Our accomm in Kaikoura was a great two storey, 2 bedroom apartment right on the beach. The mountains that overlook Kaikoura even had some snow. Weird standing on a beach and looking at snow.  David cooked up some fresh mussels we got in Havelock with a local sav blanc and they really were delicious. First time i have actually enjoyed mussels. We are still having a ball. Got tired about halfway through the trip, but we are now in the zone and really not ready to stop our travels at all!!!

Thursday 26 April. Kaiteriteri to Nelson

Someone’s birthday today!  We weren’t going to do anything today but on advice from the unit owners we visited the “Resurgence of the Riwakiu River”.  It’s only a short walk but it’s where the Riwakiu River emerges after working its way down from the top of the mountain through a series of underwater caves. WOW! Everything just dripped in moss and lichen, and the river comes out from under a cliff to a big emerald green pool before it trickles off over more moss covered rocks. Really stunning.You can even cave dive here.

We then headed off to Nelson, via a cute cafe, Mapua smokehouse and then some lovely ‘fesh and chups’ on the wharf in Nelson.  Grabbed some supplies for a baked dinner (I can’t believe we’re eating again) and then headed off to our accommodation.  OMG this place is amazing.  180 degree views across Nelson Bay. Once again Sarah has out done herself.

(thought I should add a comment seeing as David has taken a shine to blogging.  As you can see after only 14 days David has finally succumbed and is now enjoying being a big spender! – he didn’t mention above how we also went to a brewery today and he bought himself a 6 beer taster!!)

Hmmm a hint of hops and licorice?

Wednesday 25 April Abel Tasman National Park (Bark Bay to Torrent Bay)

Woke up to the most amazing day. The ocean was like a mill pond and the view from our accommodation is unbelievable, especially watching the sunrise  (Sarah has done the most amazing job with the accommodation). 

Only a 5 minute drive to the beach where the water taxi picks us up. We had the best skipper and he went out of his way to show us heaps of things on our 1 hr boat ride to our drop off point where we would start the walk, even saw a few blue penguins (we call them fairy penguins).  As the ocean was so flat he said we could stay on the boat while he dropped another passenger off further north and he’d drop in on the local seal colony at Tonga Island.  He parked the boat and said that if we put our hands in the seal pups would come over and we could pat them!  He wasn’t joking. 
The walk took us about 2.5hrs over cliffs, along the coastline, through gullies thick with ferns and moss, even across yet another swing bridge, absolutely amazing.   We had lunch on the beach at Torrent Bay before the water taxi picked us up for our trip back.

Tuesday 24 April. Cape Foulwind to Kaiteriteri

Today we headed off to Kaiteriteri, near Abel Tasman National Park.  On the way we dropped in on a lighthouse on the closest point to Australia, a seal colony and New Zealand’s longest swing bridge over the Buller Gorge.

Once again the scenery on the way was spectacular (no I’m not on a retainer from New Zealand Tourism). Couldn’t believe how much the swinging bridge was “swinging” as we made our way over, especially with the boys jumping up and down!  After a short walk which included some old gold field relics and a major fault line we decided to head back over the bridge.  However I thought it would be better if we sent the boys over a different way, so they were lucky enough for their father to shout them a ride on a flying fox.  They even managed to get a video at the end!

On arrival at Kaiteriteri no one was home so we let ourselves in, which was lucky as the unit owners werent expecting us till tomorrow!  This place is huge and is only a stones throw from the beach.  The hallway is about half the size of our house, the boys even had their own room and then there’s the view.

Our digs for the night..

Monday 23 April. Fox Glacier to Cape Foulwind

Farwell Fox Glacier

Drove up the west coast today through some amazing cold temperate rainforest along very windy roads that hug the coast.  I never realised NZ had this type of forest that just drips off sheer cliffs straight into the ocean.  It really was impossible to count the number of tree ferns and palms despite the max temp today to be 15 degrees.   Kept an eye out for my orca but none appeared.  David and I celebrated our 19^th wedding anniversary today – what a great way to spend it.  

We stopped at Hokitika, the Greenstone (Jade) capital of NZ. David bought me the most beautiful necklace made from local greenstone , he really opened the wallet wide today!  (amazingly, I think he actually enjoyed it – although he did manage to get a discount for cash!!!) The boys also bought themselves some necklaces carved from bone that of course , as legend has it, protect  the owner from evil and give them great magical powers. They were unstoppable!

We also stopped off to view the Pancake Rocks, they were actually really quite amazing.

  After a long day we arrived at the most amazing B&B, perched up on top of a cliff with views over the Tasman sea.  Cloud cleared just enough to give us an amazing sunset.  Although we are staying in Cape-Foulwind there has been hardly no wind and the sea is as flat as a tack.  However the vegetation that’s close to coast is bent over at 90 degrees so I’m assuming that most of the times it lives up to its name as the ‘wild west’ of NZ.

Cheers - what a romantic setting... (you cant see the kids trying climb the tree tho!)

Sunday 22 April. Lake Hawea to Fox Glacier

Wild West Coast.

Cruzy day today as we headed over to the West Coast.  Once again spectacular scenery.  We visited the blue pools where the water is so clear the salmon look like they’re swimming in thin air.  On the gravel beach people have been building some pretty cool cairns (stacked rocks).  So we added a few extra.  Didn’t hang around long, as one of the bonuses of the rain forest is the sandflies!!!.

On the gravel beach people have been building some pretty cool cairns (stacked rocks).  So we added a few extra.  Didn’t hang around long, as one of the bonuses of the rain forest is the sandflies!!!.

 We then headed over to Fox Glacier and had lunch at the Haast visitors centre where our blue and white friend made another appearance.

We encountered our first lot of rain but luckily it held off while we walked up to the glacier.  Fox glacier and surrounding scenery was, you guessed it, spectacular!  Its steep cliffs and dense rainforest was like a scene out of Jurassic park. The track takes you to within 200m of the terminal face of the glacier. This however was not close enough for some people who, despite the large number of warning signs, still have to climb the barriers and walk down to the terminal face, even though a couple tourists got killed in 2009!!!

Saturday 21 April. Queenstown to Lake Hawea

Original Chinese cottage. 1800's.

Arrowtown festival.

Headed off to Arrowtown this morning not knowing that it was the Arrowtown Autumn festival. Visited a historic Chinese settlement which was very interesting, especially for Harry given he’s learning about the goldrush in Ballarat.   The main street was blocked off due to all the stalls and activities.  There were rides for the kids, old fashioned cars, food and produce stalls and even a display where people could pan for gold, which is what put Arrowtown on the map.  They were using some gravelly sand from the nearby Arrow river and low and behold there’s gold in them there hills. The boys found a few good flecks which they got mounted at the local gold shop.

There be gold!

We then headed off to puzzling world which is a pretty cool place.  They have some pretty amazing  illusions.  Check out the one with the leaning chilly bin.  We did the maze at the end and after finding the four corner towers we couldn’t get out and had to use an emergency exit.  Not sure about the communal toilet block!!!

We them headed off to Lake Hawea via a local brewery to sample a few refreshing ales.  Got to our accomodation and it was packed as they were hosting an annual mountain bike race.  Finished off a good day with a pub meal and a few more NZ lagers.

Friday 20th April. Te Anau to Queenstown.

Again, I know I have said it before, but the scenery is just wow, wow, wow. Huge mountains, craggy  peaks, deep lakes, really just exactly how Tolkien described Middle Earth.  Our apartment has great views of the Remarkables. We walked into town and up to the sky gondola. The views from the top were breathtaking!  We had a few turns on the luge which was the most fun I have had in ages! The views from the luge were breathtaking as well, hard to stay on the track.

Our Room with aview.

View from Gondola and Luge.

We then had some Queenstown culinary experiences, Patagonia icecreams, Fergburger’s world famous burgers (best I have had, so huge we all shared two) and of course some Speights beer.

So in summary, ......we are having ALOT of fun.

Fergburger!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday 19th April. Milford Sound

Wow, wow, wow and wow!  The scenery on this two hour drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound is really out of this world, nothing like I have ever seen before.  Our photos are just not worthy as you really cannot appreciate the scale of things. Huge, huge mountains, mysterious moss covered beech forests, and a myriad of glacier blue pebbly rivers. It all just blew me away. I nearly ran off the road several times because I couldn’t take my eyes of the scenery.  We drove through Homer tunnel, which runs through a large mountain to get through to milford, almost 2 km long.  Amazing. 

The "Chully Bun" on tour.

Homer Tunnel

We then boarded our cruise to travel across the sound,which is, even at the very edge, over 300m deep.  Very steep mountains, over 1500m dropping straight into the sound, speccy.  We put on our raincoats as the captain steered the ship straight into one of the waterfalls that cascade down the cliff face into the sound.  Alot of fun.  





We stopped off to do a walk at the Mirror Lakes , and mysterious mossy beech forests with wild rivers running through on the way back.  Again, we cant help but think of Lord of the Rings. We actually started scaring ourselves talking about Orcs!

Then a bottle of champas, pizza, and a culinary experience of a beer battered bluff oyster (really a taste sensation!) Bluff oysters are at least double the size of  a big aussie oyster.  Good for us oyster lovers, a real nightmare for those that hate them!  Now a nice sleep in before we head for Queenstown tomorrow.   Hope you are all well.  I think I am finally over my cold and into holiday mode!

Wednesday 18th April. Dunedin to Te Anau

Well after lovely breakfast of croissants, museli and yoghurt with the sheep we headed off across alot of farmland , and sheep!, to reach the mountains and lakes of Te Anau.  Tomorrow we head off to do a cruise on Milford sound – we are all very excited!

PS. Have updated some of the previous posts with photos now but did spend hours previously trying to do so to no avail!  Got me quite cranky actually.Think I have it figured now.

Monday 16th April. Mt Cook to Dunedin.

Well we woke up to an amazing morning at Mt Cook.  Apparently it usually is covered in clouds but we  had a really beautiful cloud free morning.  We went for a two hour hike up a glacier valley, across 2 swing bridges to get up close to the base of Mt Cook. It was absolutely breathtaking. The boys had a competition to see how long they could hold their hands in the icy glacial water! Truely Lord of the Rings Country.

Gollum Country

Scary swing bridge - dont look down!

 We then headed off down to the coast via a lot of alpine lakes and salmon farms to Dunedin. On the way we stopped off at Whitestone cheese which has won a lot of awards in NZ and also via Moeraki  Boulders, these really weird round boulders, like giant marbles, sticking out of the sand. 

David even let the moths out of his wallet and bought us all a NZ hokey pokey ice cream. Yummo!   We then arrived at our B&B which is a little cottage on a sheep farm on a cliff overlooking the most amazing coast line. Like the cliffs of dover with black gravelly beaches, really different to AUS. Off to find some seals, penguins and the elusive albatross tomorrow, fingers crossed.  

Our little cottage by the sea..