Driving Down the West Coast

Queenstown, New Zealand

After leaving Abel Tasman, we drove south towards Franz Josef, but stopped halfway to sleep at Punakaiki which we nicknamed Pancaky. This area is known for the Pancake Rocks which we checked out on a rainy morning before driving the second part of the way to the glacier.
The rocks were pretty interesting to look at, but I think the locals take it too far. As we entered the park area a big plaque read:

"In an age when it seems everything has been explained, nature hangs on to a few mysteries. The Pancake Rocks of Punakaiki are one of them."

Fortunately I was traveling with Dr. Smick who was able to give the rocks a quick once over and solve the mystery.
When we got to Franz Josef the weather was not looking so good. In fact, it was pretty much a downpour situation. As we made plans for our glacier tour, we found out that it had been raining for three weeks straight. Somehow though, sun was forecasted for the next day. Our fingers were crossed as we slept that night.
And the next morning was gorgeous. We got equipped with some waterproof jackets and trousers and some wet boots and soon we were on the glacier. The whole experience was pretty surreal, especially as we squeezed through the cracks and climbed down into a tunnel which was supposedly the coolest "feature" they have had in the past two years. The ice down there was so blue!


From Franz Josef we drove through the mountains and along the lakes to Wanaka. I actually can't say too much about it because I was sleeping most of the time. Who knew climbing around on a glacier would be so exhausting? When we got to Wanaka, Noah was in need of a nap too, but since Wanaka came so highly recommended by Rony (and since we only had one day there), we went out for a tramp.
The hike up the mountainside was so steep. If we had been in the States, there would surely have been a fence. But not here, can't swap views for safety!As we neared the peak, we got to the grassy tussock area. Beautiful! Even the sheep were amazed by the views.The next day we rented some mountain bikes to explore the single track around Wanaka. The trails were pretty hard, and Noah had to brave the black diamonds by himself.

Then we were off to Queenstown. More on that, plus Kepler Track and fjords to come!

Continuing the tour of the South Island

We arrived in Picton in the early afternoon still basking in the glow of our fine dining experience at the winery. After a quick stop in town to choose our lodging for the night, we set out on the Snout Tramp. We walked out onto the tip of a peninsula surrounded by the Queen Charlotte Sound all around.
The next day we woke up bright and early. Well, early for us, about 7am because we had a long drive ahead of us, with plenty of sights on the way. Much to our chagrin, it was raining. And not just raining, it was a serious downpour. We hopped in the car and started the drive, and worked to imagine the beautiful scenery passing us by, completely obscured by the clouds and fog. We stopped in Nelson for lunch, and since it was still raining, Noah got to do a beer tasting at Founders Brewery. Judging from the fact that he finished three glasses before I got the camera out, it was a success.But, our luck was turning around, and as we walked out of the brewery the sun came out. Maybe Nelson does have sun for 200+ days a year after all. We quickly jumped in the car and continued the drive to Golden Bay stopping at some scenic lookouts on the way and scaring a few sheep too.Our plans for the next day were to explore Abel Tasman National Park by kayak. When we got to the beach, they were only lending out sit-on-tops for 2 hours due to the wind expected later in the day. As this was supposed to be one of the best places to kayak, it didn't seem like enough, so we went tramping instead, hoping for better weather the next day. As you can see from the pictures below, the Abel Tasman Coast Track was stunning (too bad we only had time to do 1 day of the 4-day track)

The view of Golden Bay going up Gibb's HillStill going up

Spotting the first beach, two hours into the hike

Okay, I guess they were right about the wind.Walking through the canopy, a light at the end of the tunnel

Beach number 3, so perfect!

Using our three-sticks skills to get back to the car by
jumping across the creeks in the trail.

And the next day, we finally got to sea-kayak! The weather was perfect and the water was calm. Couldn't be better.These two pups really wanted to climb aboard our kayak. I wasn't too sure about this, but they seemed to be. But just as they got their courage, another kayak came by, and a few big waves scared them away.

Crusaders, Tramping, and Gewurztraminer

Picton, New Zealand
We arrived in Christchurch late last Friday. As we walked to our hostel at midnight we could already tell the city was to our liking. The next day we ran a few errands, but mostly we got psyched up for the Crusaders Rugby game. The game was really fun, especially since the Crusaders won. I think the neatest part of it was how the players stayed on the field after the game to sign autographs. All the kids (and us) ran on the field, it was a fun experience.

We left Christchurch the next morning and headed north to Kaikoura. The first day there we did the peninsula walk, which we loved. It was really amazing to see all the different landscapes, and we even spotted some seals on the beach.


And we had an intense sunset that night.
The next day we were supposed to go whale watching but there had been no whales spotted for a few days, so all the tours were cancelled. We figured it was better than paying and not seeing whales and wasting the day. So, instead we headed to the local winery. As you can tell, we were not very experienced, but we had a lot of fun.

That afternoon we went tramping (hiking) in the mountains we had seen from the peninsula hike. We had a 40 minute detour searching for a Rimu tree just to realize that the track (hike) was a loop. We didn't even see the Rimu and basically did the whole hike twice. Oops. We also started questioning Civil Engineering in NZ, when we came upon some footbridges that could only hold one person.

The next day's drive took us through Marlborough, NZ's most famous wine region. Of course now that we were experienced wine tasters we had to give it a try. The first winery we went to had rows of grapes for each of the wines that you could try. Most importantly, I finally found a wine I like. Its called Gewurztraminer and is really sweet. Noah bought me a bottle.
We then went to another winery which had a french bistro where we had a gourmet lunch and a flight of wine. The cheese and seafood plates were so good, and along with the perfect location and weather, we were on cloud nine.

So much more to catch up, but it'll have to wait for another day.