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Hey...me again!
So we reached Te Anau which is a tiny little town about two hours from queenstown with about three hostels, a supermarket and a few cafes. People basically come here to take a day trip to the famour milford sound. We made the most of being here by going on a tour to the glowworm caves the first night we got there. They took us out on a big catermaran through the fjordland to where the glowworm caves were. we were surrounded by over 50's (not that there is anything wrong with that!) and snap happy japanese :). When we walked into the cave we had to duck down really low to actually get inside. It was absolutely amazing in there! There was a big gushing river inside which is cutting away at the rock in there and the rock formations were fantastic! We walked through the cave to where we got onto a boat. It was totally pitch black inside to allow us to see the glowworms and had to be totally silent. The boat took us along the river where we looked up onto the rocks and saw thousands of tiny glowworms...it was magical! I felt like I was in a disney film. I was fascinated! It was such an amazing experience!
The next day we took a boat cruise to milford sound. Apparently it is one place in New zealand where bad weather is actually good to have as it makes the fjord look more mysterious. The fjordland scenery was absolutely gorgeous!I felt so insignificent on the boat being surrounded by such high hillsides. There were also stunning waterfalls and we also got to see a seal colony! The boat took us right out into the Tasman sea where linds and hellie started to feel a bit queesy :). It was an absolutely awesome day and I would definately love to go back there!
The drive back from milford sound to Te anau was gorgeous too and all part of the trip. We stopped off at an amazing turquoise coloured river which passed through a tiny part of the rocks making it look absolutely incredible! We also stopped off at the famous mirror lakes where you can see the reflections of the mountains which is stunning.
The next part of our trip was a drive up the west coast along by the sea to Nelson. The coastal drive was really nice! we stopped off at a place called Punakakai to see the famous pancake rocks which are rocks that look like pancakes surprisingly! They were pretty cool.
Nelson is very different to the other towns we have experienced in New Zealand so far..alot bigger and busier. It seems a pretty cool place. We are staying at a hostel called shortbread cottage..its dead cute with dried flowers above our beds :). However, we picked it because it said in the lonely planet that we would get some shortbread (trust us!) but we were very disopointed when they told us that there was none because the ownership had changed! Gutted! Its really cosy though and feels like a home.
We only had one night there before heading to Abel Tasman National park. It wasn't a very long drive away before we hit some gorgeous beaches. So yeh, that day was a very chilled out one which involved topping up the tans and swimming in a sea without the fear we were gona be stung by jellyfish! we also visited a sculpture garden which was pretty cool. Later on, we drove upto a place called takaka where we stayed the night.
That night we did wana have a bbq on the beach but the lack of disposable bbq's meant a meal out at the reccomended mussel inn. Mussels was def the theme for staying at that place as the next day, we went collecting mussels on the beach with the owner of the hostel. It was great fun and when we got back we cooked them for lunch...mmmm! In the morning, we also found a boat which had been turned into a cafe called the 'espresso ship' so we boarding that for a drink and also decided to get into the spirit of things and dress up as pirates...aha me mateys!
As we had to get back to Nelson that night for linds to get her bus to Christchurch the next day we headed back shortly after that. For our last night with Linds (a very sad occasion as it has been really nice having her out here) we had a yummy Thai takeaway. It was really sad saying goodbye to her as she has fitted in so well to the travelling way of life and it's a shame she couldn't stay longer.
Our next stop is Kaikoura to go swimming with the dolphins..can't wait!!
Hope you are all doing just grand!
Love ya all lots!
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