Ok, we haven't been too good at updating this and now we have an issue of remembering everything that we have done. We left Wanaka after spending a lovely night in a little cottage that we got for the same price as a dorm bed due to a toilet issue so we had a little kitchen and a bathroom and a sitting room with tv etc.
We left Wanaka at 9:30am in search of Hokitika via the Haast Pass. That drive was the most beautiful drive we have done so far. It wound through the mountains and through the subtropical rainforest on an awesome driving road.
The good thing about New Zealand is that as you are driving along there are signs that say (for example) "waterfall walk 30mins" and you can just pull over and go for a quick walk and see some of the most beautiful things.
We saw (as you can see in the pictures) some beautiful blue pools. The water in NZ is so blue because of how cold it is and the pure light refracting through it.
As we were going over the Haast Pass we stopped to see the "Raging Billy Waterfall" but we got out of the car only to discover that our back right hand tyre was flat and we had no signal and we were on a little mountain road where there was no other traffic so toby goes into the boot and pulls out some apparatus, hoists up the car and seemlessly fits the spare tyre (parents should feel proud now). The downside of this tyre was that it was tiny and we could only travel at 80kph which made the journey very slow. We got over the mountains and found the town of Haast which actually has NOTHING in it but it had a phonebox so we called up our rental company and they arranged a free replacement at Beaurepairs in Greymouth. So we trek up to Greymouth where we arrive at 7:30pm so it was a good 10hour drive only to find that there is now Beaurepairs there and the rental office was shut so we waited till the morning.
We called them back and told us to go to firestone so we packed up and went there but they were going to take an hour and we wanted to get off so we found a little independant place who just mended the puncture for 20 bucks and we will just keep the receipt and get reimbursed later.
So we left and drove up over the Arthurs Pass following the Trans-Alpine Express rail route. The drive was really nice and we ended back in Christchurch to surprise Hamilton when he woke after his afternoon sleep. It was lovely to see everyone again and then it was off early in the morning to head to Motueka where we spent a night before going into the Abel Tasman National Park. The weather at the moment is beautiful, seemless blue skies and beautiful sunshine. We got a water taxi to Tonga Bay which was so cool. These guys just drive a speedboat around the bays picking people up and dropping them off whilst getting to see all the wildlife. We saw stingrays (we didn't die) and a little seal colony full of baby seals as well as an albatross and lots of starfish. We walked from Tonga to Bark Bay which took about 2hrs, which when you have a big bag on your back is long enough, so we arrived thouroughly sweaty and smelly and set up camp and lit a fire. We had nutritious pot noodles for dinner and drank cheap NZ pinot gris which wasn't anything to write home about although I am. It was a horribly cold night spent in the tent for me although Toby informed me in the morning that he had been too hot.
Anyway, we woke in time to see the sun rose over the bay which was really beautiful and we paddled about in the sand looking at rock pools and starfish. It's worth mentioning that we had planned to wake up, pack up and trek for another 6 hours to Marahau but that wasn't going to happen in my lifetime so we took the water taxi back to Marahau which was probably better because you get to see more and the water is so blue and lovely with golden beaches surrounding it.
So we got back to Marahau and drove to Nelson which is where we are now based for the next 3 nights in a really nice hostel near the centre of town. On Sunday we travel to Picton to catch the interisland ferry to Wellington.
Hello to the new member of the Pearce family - Bertie the puppy and don't worry Mark, Toby has remembered its your birthday soon!!! Also i'd like to mention at this point that I had told Tobs to call home many times prior to his call the other day but he never thought it was necessary.
Toby, at this point, would like me to mention that he chopped some very large tree trunks with an axe this morning like a real lumberjack - I think it made him feel manly.
We will try to load up some more pictures soon because the pics we have of Abel Tasman are so beautiful.
Glad everyone is well, speak soon and lots of love,
Tegan xxx