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Published: January 2nd 2007
So I can't remember what I was telling you guys last. ThinkI was writing about the Abel Tasman adventure when my internet time limit was up. Let me give this a try....ok, so Ciara, the Aucklander arrived to the eating place we were at, after our 20 min hike...to drink a beer, but i thought how can she drink one so early in the morning (10am) but i had to understand that this was going to be her last chance to enjoy one since her she still had 6 days of mopre hiking thru the abel tasman (she had planned on doing the route twice, back and forth, crazy idea i thought, bc she was lugging around her 40lb back pack with her since she had to carrry all her necessities). WEll, an hour later we were soon off on our hike...crossing VAST dry sandy "lakes" (it was low tide, and thre were miles and miles of dry sand we had to cross), every now and then we had to take off our hiking boots to cross streams which was a pain bc there were MUSCLES and SEA SHELLS covering every inch of the ground! OUCH! Dont know how ciara did it bc she was being wieghted more w/that pack opf hers. After 30 min of the torture...we soon enter a beautiful wet Forest, FERNS and the native NZ palm tree everywhere. By this point we had realized that we had to hurry up if we wanted to catch our water taxi at 3pm....so that meant power fast hiking, which I HATE, bc u miss all the cool stuff thats surrounding you (ie. Birds, ect)....so gimp, claudia had to get her butt moving to keep up once again with everyone...my right knee gave oout on me, it never fails. Trucking thru the forest, with everynow and then spectacular looks of the coast and blue green seas, we arrived to our destination point 15 min early! Alas, we could rest on the beach, eat a sandwhich and wait for the water taxi. When it arrived, we jumped in, and zoomed past miles we had covered in three days in a matter of an hour probably (crazy, i thought, bc we had kayaked two days and hiked one and this power boat got us there QUICKLY)...the boat captain was nice enough to stop by another seal colony, which was cool seeeing the seals again.!!! Arriving to the end point, a tractor was wating for the water taxi out in the water, "what the?"...yes, the tyractor was going to pull the water taxi onto land with us still on the boat, talk about door to door service...our water taxi got TAXIED onto the outfitter store!!!!! CRAZY!!!!!!!! In a rush, we jumped off, went into the building looking for our sleeping bags that had been water taxied oput earlier that morning bc we werent going to hike with them.....Nile, Julianna and Martin, waiting for me to call a hostel in Motueka bc I had made plans on spending new years with Thomas, Marco, micheal and his gf in Nelson but had then changed my mind...i did not want to go out drinking and partying...so I had to in a hurry, call the hostel in Motueka and hope they had available dorm room for me for that night, I called and they did. So off we were to Motueka to spend NEW YEARS. The girls (Nile, Julianna), cooked an amazing dinner, Shrimp A La Creme Pasta....and this awesome salad (sauteed mushrooms, lettuce, parmesean cheese, balsamic vinegar, ect)....just heaven after eating sandwhiches, granola bars, and muslie on the Abel Tasman. John, the guy we met in the Abel tasman, joined us also for the stay their in Motueka...and to celebrate new years that night, we had bought 3 bottles of wine, a red one, a white one and champagne.....but i had one 1/2 glass...I was too tired for anything and really didn't want to drink. For the count-down, we all went outside to a star-filled night sky, (where two other couples soon joined us)....so it was a nice quite relaxing new years for me...thats what i was looking forward too...not the partying in nelson with others...I was glad I had changed my mind!!!!
The next morning since there weren't any dorm rooms available where we had astyed (the laughing kiwi), we booked with one down the street, The White Elephant...a hidden victorian house with vast patios and a trampoleen. It was great, we lounged around the whole day, I tok a 1 1/2 nap (yes, I took a nap, something I dont believe in but hey, I'm ON HOLIDAY, right? IT WAS GOOD!!!!!!)...we then walked to the town center looking for a net cafe (thats where i uploaded my pictures to this site), went to the grocery store and came back to the hostel.....for dinner I had INSTANT asian noodles (which is a no no for mygroup but i was still being lazy and I was really craving instant noodles, dont ask me why)....the girls and martin had an array of stir fried veggies (when I smelled their food I wish I was eating theirs too...im telling you, Im EATING TONS, this oinker will not be recognized by you all, JEJEJE)....
The next morning at around 8:30am we left to drive almost 6 hours further south...to a beautiful retreat we were going to be staying at..TE NIKA, a hidden lil place off the coast, amongst the wet forest of the South (3km away from Punakaiki)...when we arrived I could not believe my eyes.....this amazing plce for so CHEAP....it's a JEWEL...just amazing...our lil tree houses (ok, cabins, tucked away in the forest, with the birds all around us, and with the black sandy beach just a matter of min away) = HEAVEN...I wish u guys were here to see it...its so beautifully romantic...too bad that special someone is not here to enjoy it with me bc its SO ROMANTIC HERE...I think this is where I want to get married (well, if I ever do). After putting our packs in our rooms, we changed into our beach attire and headed on down to the beach.....damn, didn't think it could get more amazing. The coastal beach was drapped with Black/green itty bitey rocks and a huge cliff with a small water fall quenching the bottoms ferns and palms!!!!!!!! Huge boulders lay here and there and the TASMAN SEA, roaring in the back ground.....just breath taking!
Aw, i'm in love with this place. We spent nearly 3 hours basking in sun, we then lazily strolled back to our lil hideaways to cook (we had curry chicken and I made a yummy fresh pineapple and kiwi fruit salad for desert, yum!) For the sunset we walked back down to the beach, where I think I saw petrels ( a sea bird), saw many comorants, black-backed gulls, ect, and I was on the look out for the blue pinguins but the lil suckers never came to the beach. In the distance thru binoculars we could SEE MT. Cook , which was cool.
Later on, as we were coming back in the drak, I heard the famous Mo-pok owl (which makes a call just like its name and a chicken thing called a WEka...just too cool!).
Today, we will go see the "pancake rocks", they are spelled differently, but remember Im a horrible speller (i look up the right names later). Then on the nioght of the 3rd we will be staying in the FRAN JOESF area, where on the 4th I will be taking a HELI up to the glaciar and walk around it for two hours! NEATO----can't wait to show you guys picts.
Love you all,
Claudia
PS- Darlene, yes, I've been getting all the messages.
PSS- Mom/dad, still love you.
PSSS-Hari, you finally made a comment, yay!
PSSSS- ok, no more PSSSSSSSS.
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Emily
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Happy New Year!
WOW! You are doing and seeing so much!! And you still have more than half your trip left to go! Love the pics, keep 'em coming! Miss you and stay safe!!