Two days in Paparoa and one of them was really sunny! On the sunny day we hiked up to the top of Mount Ryal. From the top we had a superb view of the Southern Alps, including Mt. Cook, which is New Zealand's highest peak. The lady at the desk seemed to think the hike was boring and "in the bush" the whole time, but the trees were amazing and we got to climb along a knife thin tree line for a while that would have spelled doom to anyone that fell. We also checked out the pancake rocks and blowhole, which wasn't erupting despite being there for high tide. Boooo. The next day we forded a river and made our way to the Fox River Cave, which had sweet stalagmites and stalactites along with some ... read more

The track was really extraordinary. It was quite chilly for most of the time and threatened rain, but through some brilliant maneuvering we made it through dry. The first night we stayed in the Anchorage hut and checked out some nice watering holes called Cleopatra pools, where we also happened upon a rather naked couple. Whoops. The Bark Bay hut was next and was the nicest with hardwood floors and spacious rooms, but was super crowded with people. We slept in our room with mostly Germans. The next day was our first high tide crossing, which we made easily. On to the Awaroa hut where there was hardly anyone! Hurray! Our final day we made the final easy trek to Totorauni where we caught a water taxi back. It was marvelous. We saw seals and penguins ... read more

On to wine country! It was delicious. After trying to find a hike in beautiful sheep country, but failing, we gave up and hit up the vineyards. We tried two establishments, Forrest and Hunter, and both were quite delicious. Giggling continued for a few hours after the wine tasting and we made our way to Picton. Beautiful place. The water is so blue and green mountains shoot straight out of the sound waters. We happened upon a tasty pastry place. I got an apple tart and Brian got a super brownie. We wandered around the bay taking in the sound. We found starfish, sea cucumbers, sea urchins, and a GIANT hermit crab, who gave a photo shoot for Brian (he told him he was sexy).... read more

We started out our day making a lovely meal in the camper van and then going out to explore. The forest are very lush around Hanmer Springs and we hiked out to a waterfall. The waterfall was amazing! Probably 50 feet high with ferns and moss everywhere. We then happened upon a trail that led to the summit of Mt. Isabel and summited our firest New Zealand mountain! After our hike we drove out to Kaikoura and walked around the very lovely beach town. We stayed at another holiday park right on the beach! It also happened to have a zip line (called a "Flying Fox" in NZ) which was probably 50 years old and sent us crashing into rubber tires that poured water on us (um, yes, it was awesome.) ... read more