Photo update

We had fun exploring the Aorere Valley, a dairy farming area on the road to the Heaphy Track (one of NZ's 5 Great Walks). The general store at Bainham was a very funky  art gallery, coffee shop that felt like a junk yard in a barn. The Naked Possum Cafe, however, was quite upscale. Their art gallery features items made from tanned possum hide, an introduced animal that is huge pest. They eat native trees and the eggs of the national symbol, kiwi birds.

We made it out to the end of the Farewell Spit yesterday. Depending on the tide, it can be as long as 35 km. Tides here are very long because the land is flat allowing the water to go way out. We had hoped to see more birds but did see oyster catchers and godwits.

A view of Nelson from a lookout at what has been determined to be "the centre of New Zealand".

One of the dozens of phenomenal costumes from the Wearable Art Museum. Oddly, perhaps in a nod to the men, the other half of the museum displays classic cars.

John has done all of the driving so far while I serve as navigator. The road to Collingwood from Nelson goes over Tanaka Hill which is an extraordinarily curvy road. Good job John!

This is a shot of the Te Waikoropupu Springs, a sacred Maori site. Most place names here are in the Maori language. It's been hard for me to learn to pronounce these names! The springs put out 14,000 liters of water per second and are touted as the purest water in the world. Note the clear aqua water.

This is Cape Farewell, the northernmost point of the south island. Seals hang out here. We stopped here as part our tour to Farewell Spit.

Milnthorpe Beach is typical of the area. The tide is out making the beach extra wide. Not a soul here though we just missed a wedding that caused the entire region to shut down. We had trouble finding a restaurant open as far as 30 minutes away. Parts of the beach are totally covered with seashells. It made me sad to walk on them making them crunch and break under foot. Most of them were whole.

I am continuing my accreditation work LOL. We took a little wine tasting tour and I just had to get his photo. Amazing wines here, mostly famous for the Sauvignon Blanc and top notch Pinot Noir.

Collingwood and Takaka

Just a short note to let you know we are out on the NW tip of the South Island, really close to the end of the road. It feels like the end of the earth, too. We drove 30 min to the nearest ATM to get cash for our lodging payment. Along the way to day we did a short walk to see some very unusual limestone rock formations, hiked 4km to see a great waterfall then found a sacred Maori springs for another little walk.

We were hoping to explore the little art shops and hang out in Takaka this PM but the place was shut down because virtually everyone took off for a wedding. We caught up with the action at the beach where the event had just ended. It was an endless sandy beach with millions of seashells, mostly unbroken. I wish I could have collected them!

Tomorrow we head out to the Farewell Spit at the end of the island for an all day adventure seeing wading birds, 100' high sand dunes and a lighthouse. Check back for photos to be posted soon.

Sunny Nelson and trip photos

We have moved on the Nelson, still on the very north end of the south island. We had a short bus ride here through the famous Marlborough wine country. Lots of great Sauvignon Blanc. The weather has turned summer like so we did a walk to the beach. I have finally managed to down load some photos from our 43 mile hike on the Queen Charlotte Track. Note the gigantic tree ferns. The highest elevation point was only 407 meters but we had loads of up and down all day every day.

The last shot is little Picton with only 300 people and a million visitors a year passing through on the ferry from the north island.

Queen Charlotte Track

We survived the 43.5 mile hike around the Queen Charlotte Sound. We were so lucky because John insisted on a rest day after the 14 mile segment on the third day. What a wimp but OK. Well, he was right on in 2 ways: first, we were really dead tired and fighting colds so a break was very nice, second, it was pouring sheets of rain and high winds that whole day! We would have been hiking 12 miles in pure crap weather. Thank you John.

So a bit about the Track (trail). We went resort to resort with our luggage hauled by the boat while we only wore our day packs. Parts of the trail were very steep with surface often of hard pack clay. That can be super slippery when wet! The terrain generally was up and down as we were skirting the sound. The native forest was very different from our home turf. There were many 30-40 foot tree ferns. Yes, real ferns that are trees. This is a subtropical climate with many unusual plants. We have been introduced to many fantastic birds which sang to us all along the hike.

Our B&B in Picton, end of the track, has limited Internet access so we have to wait until Nelson, our next stop, tomorrow to get you those long promised photos.

Hello Picton, South Island

We left Wellington today, crossing the Cook Strait in fine weather. I wish I was having better luck at posting photos. Keep checking as I am sure to have it figured out soon.

We had a week long chilly time in Wellington with some great adventures. On a lark, we went to a soccer game and Wellington won aginst the Aussies. We also went to the new James Bond movie and the musical Evita. For day time activities, it was hard to beat the WW1 Memorial and Te Papa Museum, both with extraordinary exhibits created by Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings, etc.)

Tomorrow we will take a ferry to the Queen Charlotte Walk trail head for the start of a 5 day trek along Marlborough Sound. The terrain is similar to Puget Sound but, honestly, even more gorgeous. While the days are long with up to 14 miles, we are staying a resorts with full services. More about all of that next time.

Tongariro Crossing and Wellington

The weather in Wellington could be a bit better. It feels a lot like home with rain and wind, chilly. That turned today into an outing at the Te Papa Museum, New Zealand's national museum. Now we find our remaining 4 days here planned around the weather. Things on our to do list include a guided tour of Parliament, a spin through the Reserve Bank Museum (sort of like the Federal Reserve Bank) and especially a tour of Peter Jackson's studios. Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Avatar and many exquisite movies were made here.

The top pic is from our fantastic hike on the Tongariro Crossing. This very active volcanic area offers a wide array of terrain over a 12.4 mile trek. We are still recovering from that one!

There is much public art as shown in the middle shot of a statue along the Wellington waterfront. Fortunately the main shopping streets have cover so we are not so impacted by the rain.

The last photo is and example of the scenery from our 2 train rides. once outside the cities we saw miles of pasture land with sheep. There are about 4.4 million kiwis (New Zealanders) and 10 times as many sheep, or so I've heard.

On the move

We've been on the move since landing here so sorry for not keeping you posted. We took the train to the center of the north island to do the famous Tongariro Crossing hike through stunning volcanic lands. Then we caught the train from there to Wellington where it has been windy and rather chilly all day.

We have walked much of the city center seeing the waterfront, botanical gardens and government building here in the capital. Lots to see and do but we have a whole week so no rush. We are thrilled with our airbnb lodging with a huge 2 room suite and full run of the old Victorian house which is very central.

Photos should be up in a couple of days. Thanks for checking on our adventure.

Spoiled rotten

No going back now! First class seats, dinner and free drinks in the lounge, pretty nice start to our trip.