Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
I am now in Franz Josef which is on the West Coast of the South Island.
After leaving Wellington, I went to Picton and did some wine tasting at a local Vineyard which was fun. I am not much of a wine drinker but the Sauvignon Blanc was quite nice.
The bus then chigged on to Nelson which was our next stop.
Nelson is a quite a nice little town and there are at least shops and atms which are often hard to find in these small locations.
I decided to do a two-day trip to Abel Tasman National Park, which is about an hour from Nelson. I am so glad I did because it is the most amazing scenery I have seen yet. (if beaches are your sort of thing)
There were 3 others (Aj, Nicolas and Will) from the Kiwi bus doing the two-day trip so we all walked together. First we got the Aqua Taxi/commercial speed boat to Te Pukatea Bay where we started our trek for the day.
The weather was amazing and the beaches were like nothing I have ever seen before. It seemed like it had been misplaced from Thailand, with its white sand, clear blue water and rainforests.
We took our time walking and sidetracked to go swimming in Cleopatra's Pool with its natural water slide and to see Cascade Falls, a lush waterfall.
We arrived in Bark Bay - where we were to stay for the night - at around 6pm and cooked our dinner. The sunset on the beach was fantastic and because there was no light pollution, the stars were fantastic that night - not something you regularly see in the UK.
The next day was sea - kayaking, which was much fun! A little hard on the arms but on the upside we had a tail wind helping us out and we saw some baby seals.
I was tired when I arrived back in Nelson, so I just sat and watched American Psycho which was on TV (and which I didn't understand the ending of).
The next day was unfortunately a 'bus day' having spent the best part of the hours of daylight on a coach. But Anyway we arrived in Westport in the pouring rain at about 4pm. Watched Million Dollar Baby that night which is a fantastic film.
The next morning I went Jet Boating which was great! Imagine a speed boat which is jet propelled, has no propellor so can get as close to the rocks as it likes and whcih has the quick turning ability to do 360 degree spins and soak everyone. Sound like fun? Yes indeed.
So then it was on to Mahinapua for the evening's costume party with the theme: "Anything But Clothes" which is fairly self explanatory. I wore pillow cases. Various other costumes included flower pots, space hoppers, bin-liners, wrapping paper, bags etc etc. very funny evening.
The guy who runs the hostel we stayed in is called Les and he is 83 and an absolute legend! he's so funny and he puts up with Kiwi Experience costume parties most nights of the year!
So now I am in Franz Josef and I am going Ice-climbing tomorrow on the glacier!!
- comments