New Zealand

After bidding farewell to Bec we hit the road and headed towards Buller Gorge, home to New Zealand's longest swing bridge! It was pissing it down the whole way but the scenery was still very dramatic as we weaved along the road through the gorge. We took a stroll across the see through bridge and decided to return a slightly different way via a zip line. Nic opted for the chair and David did the trip superman style!

New Zealand's longest swing bridge - woo hoo!

Preparing to return over the gorge

We stopped over in Punakaiki that night and next morning visited the Pancake Rocks. These were pretty amazing rock formations (funnily enough lbecause they looked like pancakes!!) with blow holes and a very rough sea beneath them. It was quite eerie hearing deep thuds beneath our feet and seeing huge spurts of sea spray bellowing out between rocks. Magical.

After a quick check of our emails we were surprised to learn that David's cousin, Bec lived in Motueka, so whilst there we thought we'd drop by! We ended up stopping for a couple of nights and were made to feel extremely welcome. Our campervan was in the garden as we relaxed in front of the wood burner and watched some telly - it was heaven!

Thank you!

Camping at Bec's house!

After The Grove we drove on to Te Waikoropupu Springs. these are the largest freshwater springs in New Zealand and repudtedly the clearest in the world. it was icnredibly peaceful walking around here and quite impressive seeing the surge of water pushing up from the spring.

After a quick stop at a handmade choccy shop in Collingwood we drove around to the Farewell Spit. This is the most northerly point of the South Island and is a sanctuary to birds! It was such a relaxing place and we decided to settle down here for the night by the waters edge.

Farewell Spit

The following day we visited Harwood's Hole - the biggest cave in the southern hemisphere. After a walk through the woods we came to a pile of massive boulders. After a careful clamber over them we came to the edge! It was blimming huge and very echoey! We couldn't see the bottom and didn't even try - this cave didn't have safety barriers! Scarey stuff!

At the lookout at Harwood's Hole

After a quick shower, charge of electrical goods and restock of food in Nelson, we headed out towards the Abel Tasman National park. We were interested in some sea kayaking.... after a quick search around we booked our day out on the sea and were getting excited! The morning arrived and it was a glorious day to be out on the water. We were dropped off after a boat ride to the furthest reaches of the park and hopped into the double kayak. We were getting used to synchronised paddling and avoiding the rocks dotted around the coastline! First stop was the marine reserve, a little island we circumnativgated where we were joined by the now familiar sea lions - this time they were very curious! We followed the coastline occasionally weaving in and out of the bays and by the end were riding the crests of waves for some speed! Woah!!! A fantastic day, we're well and truly bitten by the kayaking bug - we want more....!

After our sea kayaking we drove to the northern part of the park for some exploring. We got up early and walked around some of the park. The views from the rocky lookout were fantastic and a great way to start out second day in the park.

Then we drove on and explore The Grove. This was a weird and wonderful rocky outcrop in the middle of fields! It was a playground! Full of huge boulders, caves and little windy paths...

View from The Grove

So, after all the hiking on glaciers we were in need of a little tlc and so headed to Hanmer Springs. Town of thermal springs! Bliss! There were so many pools to choose from but the highlight was definitely the sulphur pools. At 41C and stinking of egg our skins felt all shiny and soft! We also managed to squeeze in quick game of mini golf for David to get his revenge from Oz, before hitting the road again.

On the way to Picton we found various seal colonies! There were hundreds of the buggers and they had a bit of a whiff about them. Arriving in Picton David booked his mountain biking on the Queen Charlotte Track.

We found a little bay to camp down for night which was crawling with rabbits - hundreds of little red and white eyes hopping about the place en-route to the toilet! We woke early the following day to catch the sunrise and head over to the main harbour for David to catch a boat to start the two day 50km mountain bike track. After waving goodbye to Nic the boat cruised through Queen Charlotte Sound where David was greeted by some blue penguins (the smallest in the world!.) After arriving at Ship cove and a quick history lesson about Captain Cook the riding began, well, not for a hour anyway - it was so steep and slippery the trampers were finding it hard getting to the top! The downhill however afterwards was worth the effort. It was rough - steep, rocky, full of roots, drops, drainage gulley's to hop over - pretty much the works! This trend seemed to continue until our reunion at the half way point, where Nic had driven right the way round enjoying the views and extremely curvy road!

Setting of on an adventure!

The start...

Waiting for Nic.....

After spending another night at a beautiful bay/inlet, we woke at dawn again for the second day of biking - this was pretty much the same as the first. The downhills were a wee longer and full of muddy corners to drift around whilst trying not to go over the edges which were very steep at times! Nic was waiting at the end after checking out jelly fish infested bays and relaxing in the campervan with a glass of wine!

After a downhill section on the mountain behind

Nic's view from the camper, complete with vino.......

A well deserved rest!

That night we headed out to another part of the Marlborough Sounds after yet another endless switchback road and camped at a little fishing village. That night was the worst nights sleep so far - the wind and rain was immense. We were at last experiencing the full brunt of this so called rain! The suspension on the campervan was creaking because it was so windy. At 4am we nearly up sticks and headed for Nelson, but managed to stick it out!