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Published: February 18th 2011
Thanks everyone for the compliments on the fotos- especailly from you Colleen cos I know your fotos are stunning, and its great the way people who havent met are talking to each other via the comments... I havent seen any cannabis here, Jocelyne - is it that you are the expert !!!! Bob and Prill are bravely cycling around the South Island - I think they are on the Otago trail rght now - They will only have a few days in the North - doing Tongaririo Xing...will send you their UK mobile number that they have with them.
Suzanne H- new car indeed - wot kind??- good luck to Kate for Melbourne.
Wilma - miss all you girls and you watch out for the kookaburras down there at the beach.
So this was written yesterday and now I am in Hanmer Springs - an alpine village- campsite is surrounded by mountains everyhwere I look - lovely - got 24 hr wifi so here goes catching up.
Written 17th Feb. Abel Tasman Park
Is my spatial awareness fading or are these roads driving me round the bend!!!!! Up early this morning and away to tackle the drive over Takaka
Hill – why do they call it a hill -it’s a bloody mountain…25 kms of hairpin bends going up and down..and to top it all there are road works so lots of new surfaces with gravel flying up and no road markings and also traffic lights, and cones to keep you on your toes even pilot cars to take you along through the road works in places. So I was thinking as I drove along at the start– oh goodie I am on the inside of the road so no scarey drops on my side then after a few bends there I was driving on the outside bit with the edge …so it’s been puzzling me all day – how does that happen??? And I wasn’t driving on the wrong side fo the road. So eventually I got down the other side and headed for a little bay where the boat trips were – and heavens yes it was up and down over another “hill”- another 10 kms….I was praying for a bit of straight road- even a bit of M25 would do ( that’s desperation for you).. The good thing about it is that it is all so beautiful
wherever you look.
But it was all worth it – I just made it for the 10.30 boat which was, funnily enough ,on a trailer in a parking lot –pulled by a tractor and launched into the sea. These bays are shallow and with a 4 m tide there is no water there at low tide so the tractor has to pull you across the bay when you come back. The guy in charge said come up the front Lynne- since I was last on the boat…but then he told me it was the bumpiest seat. And yes it was VERY BUMPY…the boat is going about 55kmp and bouncing off the waves so it was a bit of a shock to the old back until I got the hang of how to sit and brace my feet and bend my knees and hang on. ( Still maybe that’s what my back needed – a good old shakeup- equivalent to spending money at the chiropractor). We travelled all along the coast of the Abel Tasman National Park – people walk the track there in 3 days. We stopped to let people off in various bays and pick up, also we went
to an island which has a seal colony – all in all it was 3 hours of wonderful scenery..lots of people kayaking there – but I had decided that I would rather do the boat trip along the whole coast. And then the WOW moment – we were heading further out as whales had been sighted…and after a few minutes wait three Orcas surfaced right alongside the boat…AWESOME – I couldn’t believe it. I got some great video of them. That was some bonus – not what I had expected at all. So back to dry land a bit shaken up – and the tractor pulled us in across the bay and it was time for a nice lunch of green lipped mussels cooked in wine with garlic bread.
And so I said goodbye to Abel Tasman Park and head south and west – a different route back to Christchurch from the one I had travelled previously…a really lovely road through forested river valleys, mountains all around ( or hills) farmland and winerys… neat little towns… a bit up and down but some nice straight stretches of road. So now I am at a little town called Murchison and in
a neat little campsite next to a little animal farm with chooks and ducks and sheep and emus.
So I probably wont get on the internet until tomorrow so I will save this for then. Night night everyone– Happy Birthday Raymond. Glad you are liking Sydney and the ferries, Marilyn!!!
Love Lynne xxx
PS I see there is a thing for videos on this site so I am going to publish this now and try to do another on for the video of the Orcas.
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colleen
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Emu confusion
Hey, what is an emu doing in NZ. Lynne you will confuse your readers with that one!! At least they are not road kill like our poor ole possums... and made into socks. Speaking of which I hope you have bought yourself a pair of possum socks Lynne.