Kia ora from the South Island!
Alright, where did I leave off last time... Oh yeah, ELTON JOHN! Pics or it didn't happen:
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| The legend himself. Such a great concert! |
Such a good time! Two days after the concert, Antoine and I backtracked up the coast to paddle the Whanganui River, which, although it is in fact a river paddle, is classified as a one of the nine 'Great Walks' of New Zealand due to its popularity. We had stunning weather for the first three days and only a bit of rain on the fourth, and enjoyed a lazy cruise down the stunning gorge that the river has carved, with a few opportunities to test our paddling expertise in small bits of rapids.
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| A typical view from my seat at the bow of the canoe |
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| The Bridge to Nowhere, just a 40 minute walk from the river, built in 1917 by the government to provide access to land for returning WWI soldiers, but the extreme remoteness of this area led the plan to ruin. No roads lead to it, from either side. |
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| The imposing walls of the gorge |
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| Paddling hard? Nahhh |
Following our river paddle adventure, Kim's host family thankfully welcomed us back into their beautiful home in Whitby for another two nights as we planned our next move. We spent Saturday night out on the town in Welly, taking in the night market on Cuba Street and some awesome live music at an Irish pub. And ran into four Americans that we met on the river paddle! Small world.
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| Cuba Street Night Market! So many great eats |
We perused the Sunday market on the Wellington waterfront the next day. Markets are possibly one of my favourite places to be, and this one did not let me down. Can anyone say hangover cure...?
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| Harbour views on a rare blue-sky day |
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| Looking out over the city from Mount Victoria |
Sunday evening found the two of us plus Kim and her host family on the beach in Plimmerton enjoying a fish and chip feast while watching the sunset over the ocean.
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| Not a bad way to finish off two months on the North Island! |
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| So great seeing this lovely lady! Big thanks to Kim and her host family for treating us to only the best of Kiwi hospitality. |
Then it was off to the South Island! We lucked out with a beautiful afternoon for a sail, and the views cruising through the Marlborough Sounds are stunning. I caught the briefest of glimpses of a dolphin, too!
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| The Sounds, a grand entrance to New Zealand's southern island |
We spent a few nights in Blenheim, a wine-oriented city in the Marlborough region, where I then left Antoine to work on the vineyards while I took Lola and galavanted off to Nelson! I'd been anticipating this ever since first planning to come to New Zealand. Word on the street was that Nelson, NZ was just as hip, beautiful, fun, and outdoorsy as the town of the same name that I call home back in Canada. It's a little bit bigger at 50,000 people compared to my wee 10,000-strong hometown, and sits next to the ocean as opposed to a lake, but it really lives up to all the hype. There's so much to do in the city itself, and the surrounding mountains, coastlines and beaches offer a plethora of outdoor activities. The weather wasn't the greatest when I got there, so I just have two random pictures to show from my first few days in Nelson:
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| I call this the roadrunner flower, turns out it's actually called bird-of-paradise. Thanks Adriene! |
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| My favourite NZ sign |
I couchsurfed for two nights with a lovely Canadian gal and explored Nelson a little bit, then headed off to tackle the Pelorus Track, in the Mt Richmond Forest Park just south of Nelson. There are heaps of trails criss-crossing the mountains so I rearranged the track into a loop which meant I didn't have to worry about transportation to/from the start/end. The trail was 90% in the forest, so there weren't any stellar mountain views until the last day, but I really enjoyed the weekend and it was an excellent mental and physical challenge. And I crossed a few things off the 'never have I ever' list:
1. First SOLO multi-night hike
2. A night alone in a backcountry hut
3. 24 hours without seeing another person (hard to achieve in such a small country I'd imagine!)
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| Off I go! |
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Whispering Falls on day one. Worth the sketchy river crossing in which I discovered (twice) that my iPhone case is, in fact, waterproof. Phew...
Hard to capture this falls on camera but they were really cool, just a sheet of almost individual water droplets falling over the cliff bank. |
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| A peek through trees at... more trees! They're not kidding when they say 'Forest Park'. So lush and green though! |
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| This swing bridge had a warning that said 'Maximum load, 1 person'.. I hope they included a heavy backpack when they tested it! |
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| View from Rocks Hut on day two. Had an awesome night here with eight other hikers from New Zealand, Germany and Switzerland, playing cards and trading hiking recommendations. A welcome change from the previous night in a hut alone.. |
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| Day three, here we go! |
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| Some views! Hooray! |
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| The home stretch on day three. A smashing success of a first solo overnighter, I'd say! |
There's nothing like hanging out with a friendly face from home when abroad! Erin took me in for a couple nights and we made use of her day off to explore the Maitai Caves, just a short drive and one hour hike from Nelson. There's a tiny, barely-person-sized entrance in the limestone, so being adventurous we climbed in and slid down the slippery mud steps using the proffered ropes and explored the first two caverns. Heaps of neat stalactites and stalagmites, and we could hear water flowing down into unseen depths.
I then met up with ANOTHER fellow Nelsonite, Robyn! We spent three days adventuring to various corners of the Nelson area and soaking up the beautiful summer sun.
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| Downtown Nelson from the Centre of New Zealand hilltop |
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| Great spending time with another hometown friend! |
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| A sunny day's wander through the Queens Gardens |
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| More pretty flowers that I also don't know the name of... sorry Mom! |
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| An old school plane at Founders Park |
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| Tahunanui Beach, just next to Nelson. Paradise for kite surfers and sunbathers alike! |
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| Cable Bay, 25km east up the coast from Nelson. A beautiful paradise on a sunny day! |
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| Stunning ocean views on a stunning day. Couldn't ask for much more! |
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| What a poser. |
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| The Cable Bay Walkway, a definite must-see in the Nelson area! |
Antoine has rejoined me in Nelson and we're planning a few hikes in the surrounding parks for the remainder of December. Looking forward to hitting up some bigger mountains!
Cheers,
Sonja
