abel tas and around

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Here we are again, back at the pc to tell you tales of our wonderful relaxing time etc etc. We think the last you got was us in Queenstown. Now that was some time ago and so much has happened since ...

From Queenstown we went up to arrowtown and looked at restored chinese settlement (v interesting) and bought some v nice homemade fudge. and had a gourmet pie - we are now pie fanatics (as is all NZ)! from there went to glenorchy where a lot of LOTR was filmed. as you can imagine v nice scenery. we tried to get to paradise but the road was inhospitable for the van! we then went to mount aspiring NP and did the first day of the famous routeburn track and back (so 2 days if you think about it! maybe...). more beautiful scenery and birdlife - a robin decided to eat our shoes! apparently theres a greenstone boulder in the park worth $15 million. we didnt find it unfortunately!

after that went back to the centre to cromwell where we went jet boating (crazy driver who like going close to the rocks and spinning us round to cover the boat in water!), and panning for gold. found 5 bits! 4 in one 'pan' and 1 phil found on ground where digging! v lucky. so very happy altho not rich! as small pieces! from there went to alexandra and did more walks inc. the "rail trail" which is a track thru a gorge, over viaducts, thru tunnels etc following the route of the old railway line.

then to wanaka (v like queenstown) but didnt stay long! v nice lake tho. We left Wanaka and headed up towards Haast througfh some amazing scenery and the impossing Haast Pass. The road was full of bends but everyone revelaed something special not far after - waterfalls, views etc. Near Haast we visited a place called Jackson Bay - a really remote settlement in the middle of nowhere. Isolationrama!

From here we worked our way up the coast visiting the Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers. These massive blocks of ice were really impressive (Fox was best). Thats really all they were though - ice! Nice to look at (mega in a Bailey's). Places around there really nice (isolated coast) apart from the female sandflies which seem to love Matt (he thinks its cos of his fab looks). Hokitika was nice (a mad women thought we coiuld spend a week there doing all the locval things - we spent barely 24 hours of whcih 50% we slept!). Then upto Greymouth - it deserves its name, nowt more to say! Then upto the Pancake Rocks - rocks that resemble stacked pancakes! Imaginatively named hey.

Then we headed inland towards Arthurs Pass - fabulous scenery (in the rain), made all the better by seeing a Kea (big green birds which are o so curious about us - and want feeding!) or two. We had planned to stay for the night but the weather put us off - it rains 2/3 of the time there so! On the way out more great scenery and a quick pass through of Sheffield and Oxford. Back on the east coast again.

From here we went up to Hanmer to the Hot Springs - lovely big thermal baths (hot water with minerals in and temps between 35c and 41c). Mega relaxing. We managed to spend over 3.5 hours in the bath! We looked like two big prunes when we got out. 36-38c is just perfect! 41c, a sulphur pool, was bearable only for a few minutes (before overheating and nearly beeing sick from the egg smell). also got a game of crazy golf - how touristy are we!

Back to the coast then and Kaikoura - a place surrounded by lots of seal colonies which you can get really close to on occasions (you'll see in the pictures). There great creatures to watch (the fishy smell can get too much if down wind). The one we got really close to was so cute that Matt went for a second look. This time however the little fella wasnt so cute - went for a quick toliet stop! ·Also tried the local speciality here - crayfish. Mmmmmm!

The to Blenham - another unremarkable town used only as a base for the night. Next day we went to Cloudy Bay winery (you were right Lee, top draw stuff) and down to St Arnaud. Lovely national park with some really good walks and bird life. From here we headed north to Moteuka and the Abel Tasman NP/Golden Bay (Farewell Spit). More walking (12km one day), fab views, all really breathtaking! more windy hills to navigate. weather really good. its defo spring now. millions of lambs and baby cows everywhere. we've also seen some more waterfalls - one in particular was a bit odd - very nice to look at but to get there had to rock hop across a stream and go across a one person wobbly wire bridge, then when you get there have to stand on wet slippery perilous rocks to view as no platform provided! we remained in one piece tho!

couple of days ago we started back down the coast stopping in mapua. matt chose the campsite i must put here. turns out its a nudist ("clothes optional") during feb/march - thank goodness its september! it had a sign up in the kitchen saying "no nudity in kitchen".

we are now in nelson (on trafalgar square!) about to head for picton and then onto the North Island. have nearly had van 7 weeks! we also intend to visit the marlborough sounds.

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