Blogs from Kaiteriteri, Abel Tasman National Park, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania

Hoewel Wellington op een mooie dag een hele mooie stad lijkt te zijn, miezert het vandaag en hangen de wolken tegen de heuvels aan. Alvorens de ferry te nemen, gaan we nog naar het nationale museum van Nieuw-Zeeland, Te Papa. Dit museum telt vijf verdiepingen en je kan er op een interactieve manier veel over het land te weten komen. We gaan eerst naar de exposities over het ontstaan van het land, hierbij moet je denken aan de werking van de continentale platen (Nieuw-Zeeland ligt er op twee) en het effect door de miljoenen jaren heen op de vorming van het land. Hiermee samenhangend zijn de vele aardbevingen en vulkaanuitbarstingen die het land te verduren krijgt. Er is zelfs een huisje waar je een aardbeving ervaart. Ook passeren vele dier -en plantensoorten de revue. Op een ... read more

5 months into the nz journey and i have yet to write about it until now. In truth i have not quite found the urge or the muse or the time or the patience to write an entry, let alone write consistently. It is not for lack of experience here, this country has treated me well and i feel very comfortable and settled in. I guess I've been figuring out why i am here? why did i come here in the first place? what in the world am i doing? For the first month or so my answer was: i did not know what else to do basically. I knew i was not fulfilled state side, as in i was not unhappy but i also was not authentically happy either. I also knew i promised myself ... read more

Our hostel was located right on the beachfront with beautiful views of the sea and islands. As soon as we arrived in Kaiteriteri we jumped off the bus and booked on to a boat tour of the Abel Tasman National Park for the next morning. Our hostel was called Kaiteri Lodge and had a large pub garden which was really busy. As we were next to the beach, hot and sweaty from our bus journey, we changed into our swimmers and got in the sea. Again the water was fairly cold so we didn't stay in long but it was refreshing. That night Siobhan cooked a group of 12 of us an incredible risotto and after we all sat together in the tv room watching Austin powers before going to bed. After a 7am start and ... read more

Two became three as Lizzie joined us on our trip to the South Island. We all took a sea-sickness tablet in case the 3.5hr cruise across the cook strait got a little rough. I'm convinced that they were just sleeping tablets as we all fell asleep for 2 hours. We managed to wake up for the best part of the journey and headed out onto the boat deck to soak in the splendour of Marlborough Sounds. We arrived into Kaiteriteri, the gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park, early in the evening.Bailey's bit: Kaiteriteri is a small coastal town with a nice little beach, 1 camp site, bar, hostel and that's about it! We soaked up some late afternoon sun before cooking dinner and then being in bed before 10. ... read more

Driving Day...........drove from Picton to Nelson and then to Kaiteriteri............just outside of Abel Tasman National Park. Spent a bit of time on the beach in Kaiteriteri, explored the area and then found a great deal at a B & B in Tapu Bay at Mark Taylor's house.........great guy with lots of stories........he's definitely a country boy..lol.......but a gem.......every night I stay the room gets cheaper......he is waiting for me when I return from a days adventure.....what a hoot!... read more