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Published: March 9th 2008
Greetings from Wanaka. We know it has been a few days since we last wrote and we have put a lot of miles of beautiful scenery behind us hence the reason for not being glued to the computers.
When we left Nelson, we headed out towards the Abel Tasman National Park. We were in desperate need of a shower and some clean clothes so we pulled into our first Holiday (RV) Park. Luckily for us or maybe not so lucky, February-March is clothing optional at this particular campground and we got to see some of the more unsightly parts of New Zealand... (picture your dad naked bending over to pick up his lounge chair at 9am) Yikes. We decided not to stay too long after Greg got the camper stuck in the mud and Lizzie quickly learned to drive the camper while Greg slogged through the mud pushing us out. We took our first shower since leaving Kauai then headed out to have our first meal that didn't include pasta or pesto cooked on the campervan's gas stove. We had the Best smoked mussels ever at a nearby restaurant. NZ is not know for their cuisine but smoked mussels are
freakin' awesome and they can make a damn good cappucino!
Abel Tasman park is a completely untouched coastal forest only accessible by foot or boat. We decided on the 8 mile hike rather than sea kayaking due to the weather. The hike crossed tidal flats and took us further into the forest where we saw waterfalls as well as sweeping views across the Tasman Bay towards outlying deserted islands. Our feet were killing us by the time we got back but it was well worth it.
The west coast is made up of one sweeping view after another. From the rolling farmlands, river gorges, jagged peaks, to the alpine lakes, and untouched coasts it doesn't get much more beautiful than this. There aren't many photos to show because the roads are tiny and there aren't many safe places to stop without falling off a mountain side; but getting from one place to the next is a destination in itself!
After spending the night camping on the beach being eaten alive by sand flies, we saw one of New Zealand geological mysteries, the limestone pancake rocks of Punakaiki before heading up into hills to see the Franz Josef
Glacier (pronounced glassy-ers).
Two days ago when we pulled into the quaint town of Wanaka there was a silent sense of relief in the campervan. In all honesty, it is the first town that we have visited that we felt at home. Leave it to the ski resort towns to do it right! We decided to indulge and have been staying at the finest Holiday Park in New Zealand (which means the showers are indoors and they clean the toilets more often than not). The town sits on the edge of a giant, crystal blue alpine lake surrounded by 9000ft peaks. We have been enjoying meals in town, even if it is just pizza and homemade mueseli. Our legs are a bit sore today after our evening hike up Mt Iron yesterday and our three hour mountain bike ride today. We rode around on a bunch of fun singletrack trails just outside of town. Afterward, Greg took a cleansing dip in the frigid waters of Lake Wanaka. Lizzie stuck her big toe in and retreated to the beach to read her book.
We are having a really great time in New Zealand and each day goes by faster
and faster and are getting used to life away from home and in the campervan. It is nice spending our days reading, talking, and exploring. We can tell that our three months are going to fly by. With a little over a week left in New Zealand before heading to Thailand, we still have many things to cross off of our list.
We miss you all and hope you are doing well. Love from New Zealand.
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frammie
non-member comment
looks gorgeous!
sounds so beautiful, thanks for the blog, Lizzie and Greg! Keep having a great time! Love from all of us!