The Bluebird, and the drive south

K: The trip down the West Coast of New Zealand has begun with the pick-up of the Bluebird, a late-1980's-something Nissan with over 113,000 kilometers. You have to love the car rentals in New Zealand when you ask if you need to look over the car and the answer is "no worries." Oh, and "the gas is about half full, so bring it back around there!"

We were a bit sad to leave Nelson, New Zealand though. It is definitely my favorite town in NZ so far. The people have a wonderful vibe, probably due to the fact that it is the sunniest spot in NZ, the proximity to beautiful beaches and the sea, endless biking trails and outdoor activities, yoga/health and wellness studios, artists galleries..... I have a long list of potential "retirement" locations, and Nelson has been added to the list.

The trip down the coast to Greymouth is called one of the Top 10 Road Trips on the Planet, according to Lonely Planet's Blue List. Hugging the coast of the Tasman Sea, the view of the coastline with pounding surf and jagged, craggy rocks is intense. We had perfect weather for the trip, which is not often the case in the rainy west of NZ. We stopped at the Pancake Rocks which are somewhat of a geological wonder. Due to weather conditions, the limestone rocks appear to look like stacks of thick pancakes. It was awesome to watch the waves crashing into the rocks and caverns, making thunderous booms in the process.

We also drove through the Buller Gorge, home to NZ's longest swing bridge. It is really a good thing that I am not afraid of heights!















V: And the Bluebird had a spiderweb hanging on the driver's side mirror, so . . . it hasn't been driven in a while... maybe, I guess.

The one-lane bridges are really fun to approach and drive on. I do wish it was more a game of chicken, with two drivers not yielding to each other, and seeing who is going to stop and back down, and reverse his way, but so far that hasn't happened. The #6 Highway is a very twisting, winding roadway, such that Karen is actually rocked to sleep about halfway up and down each mountain pass.

Nelson, New Zealand, my Lord of the Rings fans, is the place where a local jeweler crafted The One Ring, very cool! I do think a return visit to Nelson is in order. It is a very nice place, indeed.

We forgot to write that we got to check out some glow worm caves along our kayak trek in Abel Tasman park. Very wild to look up at a cave roof and think you see thousands of blue/purple stars shimmering, which are the tails of the glow worms!

The glow worm caves were shared with wetas, largish insects similar to crickets/locusts/grasshoppers, who are older than the dinosaurs, and New Zealand's own special bugs. It's rather creepy seeing thousands of them in a cave. They could easily have been the inspiration for the creatures in the Alien movies!

Bites: Blue cod, Tarahiki fish

Sips: Monteith's -- Black, Pilsener, Golden Ale, and Red beers, and Moa Brewery's Lager

Kayaking Part II - Abel Tasman National Park

K: Our second kayak adventure was a 3-day kayak/camping trip through Abel Tasman National Park. This national park is at the top end of the South Island. It is a stunning coastline, with beautiful bays, limestone and marble hills with lush vegetation.

The whole kayaking experience in New Zealand is quite a show, really a well-oiled machine. Kayaks are loaded onto a water taxi, passengers loaded into the water taxi, and then the water taxi loaded is onto a trailer which is pulled by a tractor. This entire caravan is then transported to the beach where the tractor makes it way out to the ocean and launches the water taxi. Off we went to the far northern end of the park via the water taxi so that we could paddle our way back to the launch point. The water taxis also carry trampers and day trippers to different parts of the park, transport backpacks so that trampers don't have to lug them, and even deliver mail, and drop off the daily newspaper. Oh, and there is a floating backpacker hostel that moves from bay to bay. It is truly quite an operation.

This trip was a little more posh than the previous kayak trip -- french press coffee in the morning, breaks for tea and biscuits, table cloths and a large awning to cover our picnic area. I asked Viggo how come our North American camping trip didn't have all of these amenities!!

The scenery was stunning and we got to paddle with many seals, including several babies who surprisingly make a lot of noise! We also saw a lot of birds, little blue penguins and sting rays.

























V: I asked our guide Hayo, "How do you group the clients, after they register for a kayak-camping trip?"
"It's all random," he said.
"Wow, we got lucky," I said.

We certainly got grouped with some fun people. Eight of us, with guide Hayo, paddled out from Awaroa Beach south to Marahau Beach, the Kayak Abel Tasman base. Karen and Viggo in one tandem kayak; veteran kayakers Lloyd and Linda, from Perth, Australia, in one; Rochelle and Rudolph, who moved from South Africa to Bundaberg, Australia, a few years ago, in another; and Donald and Alex, from Wellington, NZ, in the final kayak.

It's often a little tough to break the ice, isn't it, in such random grouping situations, but we all got to be pretty good friends after two and a half days paddling, camping, eating, drinking, and talking together.

Each of our paddling companions proved to be quite interesting people, as Alex revealed that he and Donald had won a bronze medal in Latin dancing at, I believe, the New Zealand Gay Games, last year, and are training for the next year's competition.

Linda is quite the multi-sport athlete, and Lloyd, a geologist, has three types of kayaks, I believe, sitting in his backyard.

And the world is just a small place, really, as we hope to see Rochelle and Rudolph in Philly in a couple of months, when they do a little tour of the US and visit their daughter in NYC. Rudolph is a physician in Australia and Rochelle hosts a radio program in Australia that features Afrikaans music and musicians. How interesting each of our paddling pairs proved to be!

We'll have a few more photos from this trip posted in a later blogpost, as we are all swapping photos soon.

What a great paddling trip this was--tasty camp cuisine, some nice wine at night, and mostly excellent paddling conditions. Best of all, we made some good friends!

Nelson, New Zealand, or is it Austin, Texas?

K: Just love Nelson, NZ, where we are spending two days before the next kayak-camping trip in Abel Tasman National Park.

Nelson has a great vibe with many local artist galleries, great shops, boutique wineries and breweries, and yoga studios! It is also the sunniest spot in NZ. One could spend a bit of time here.

I found a yoga studio that offers power vinyasa classes, and the teacher had just completed her Level I Baptiste training! It was great to reconnect with my yoga practice and a real benefit to have taken a Baptiste-style class.



Nice pint of Long Black, Founders Brewery



Biking along Monaco Peninsula, Nelson

Old Church, Founders Park	Windmill, Founders Park
Someone has been a bad boy...
South Street dwellings, deemed oldest street in New Zealand
Is this license plate available in PA?	It's not a shopping cart... it's a trundler, people!
Backpackers on buses, everywhere around here

V: Nelson has the vibe of Austin, Texas, in a village size. Anyone who's been to Austin knows exactly what I mean. We met a funky waitress in one of the bars in Nelson, an American, from Austin, Texas. No wonder she found Nelson so much to her liking. Funny, it seems like every other waitress or bartender is an American in NZ.

Eureka, at last, finally, nirvana has been found! Founders Brewery in Nelson has at least three mighty tasty brews that we imbibed. We enjoyed the Fair Maiden Ale (pale ale), Long Black (amber ale), and Tall Blonde (golden lager). They had a couple other so-so brews, Redhead, and Generation Ale. It is truly inspiring how New Zealand just kicks Australia's ass in the craft beer department! Here we have found both wines and beers that are truly high quality!

We had a very fine day biking about 20 km around Nelson.

Okay, sometimes Karen has a little trouble negotiating roundabouts ... on her bicycle. (This IS why I drive in New Zealand.) I know it was a frightening experience for her, but I couldn't help but laugh when she attempted to bisect a roundabout, and a car wouldn't yield to her, so all I hear behind me is "Damn it", and look back to see the front tire of her bike lifted way up in the air, and slammed back down in the opposite direction, as she retreats to the sidewalk, as the unyielding car whizzes by. I couldn't help myself from laughing. She crossed safely, soon thereafter.

(Oh, Chuck, Karen needs a set of stocks put in the backyard. . . in case it might be needed in the future. )

I'm excited for tomorrow's beginning of another 3-day kayak/camping trip in Abel Tasman National Park. It might rain, but should be a good chance to paddle among some seals. Update on Friday, we hope.

Highlights--
Sips: Founders Brewery beers, Tuatara IPA and Emerson's Pilsner, an award-winning NZ brew
Bites: Dinner at the Waterfront Cafe and Bar in Nelson featured a very tasty Venison Tenderloin and a nicely spiced and aromatic whole fish preparation of a Tarahiki, a local favorite. These were accompanied by a fine Nelson area Pinot Noir from 2008.

Kayaking and Camping in the Marlborough Sounds

K: Well, I have graduated from car camping to real outdoor camping. We just finished a 3-day camping trip in the Marlborough Sounds, all gear packed in the kayaks including tent, sleeping bags, clothes, food and cooking gear. We did have a guide so we didn't have to arrange the logistics ourselves. The Marlborough region covers the northern end of the Southern Island of New Zealand and is a maze of islands and waterways. It is also the region that produces some of New Zealand's Sauvignon Blanc. The Queen Charlotte Track runs the length of the sound and is one of the most widely trafficked tramping tracks in the country.

We kayaked nearly 20 miles over the 3 days which brought us near the outersound and the Cook Strait. The scenery, as the photos show, is just stunning with numerous islands and bays and wildlife everywhere. Stopping for lunch on the first day, we paddled into a small beach with one very large seal perched right in the middle. He did allow us to share his beach with us, only snorting at us from time to time. He was literally five feet away from me as I ate a sandwich. We were also fortunate enough to paddle next to seals playing in the open water, seemingly oblivious to our bright yellow kayaks. We also saw dolphins, thousands of moon jellyfish (not dangerous), and various birds.

It was a great three days with a bit of a test on day two. To get to our campsite in Cannibal Bay we had to paddle straight into a 30 knot wind for about an hour. Let's just say that is an arm workout unlike any other.

Our guide Cole from Marlborough Sounds Adventure Company was terrific and cooked us french toast for breakfast each day as well as very tasty dinners. If you are ever in the Marlborough region, we would highly recommend this tour!





























V: It was quite an adventure, indeed, paddling almost three-quarters length of the Marlborough Sounds, from Picton up towards the Queen Charlotte Sound.

I must confess that the second day's wind was really the toughest paddling conditions I've ever been in, and I was so proud of Karen just sticking with it, and paddling hard, and we made it to shore, safe and dry!

That pesky bird in the photo above, next to the red gear bag, is a Weka, a fearless, cheeky little guy, who just pop out of the bush if you sit down to eat, or just place some item of clothing on the ground. They will come over to investigate, and more likely than not, attempt to take any item they can away with them, if you leave something unattended. Our guide mentioned losing a red pair of underwear, a spoon, and a plate to a Weka on previous trips. Just -- whoosh -- on the ground one second, and then snatched by a Weka and gone into the dense bush the next. I think our only casualty was a carton of milk which was snatched from the picnic table and drunk dry.

Paua, a cross between a scallop and an oyster, which lives in a beautiful iridescent shell and attaches itself to rocks, is the item held by Karen in one of the photos, and featured as the black-rimmed rock in the other 'still life' photo. Cole, our guide, found some in the bay, and cooked them up, and I tasted it. Not bad at all. In fact, we saw it listed on a menu board at a take-away Fish and Chips shop in Picton. So there we are, getting our food from the sea on this trip!

Captain James Cook, that intrepid British navigator, came back five times to Resolution Bay, where we ended our trip. He apparently liked best this spot in New Zealand, for resupplying his ship's stores, and leaving his invalided sailors to get healthy. We could see why he liked that spot along the Marlborough Sounds. A monument to him is noted in the photos, with the cannon in front.

And, good grief, how did we both manage to sunburn our lower lips? Ouch, a little. We are on the hunt for some zinc oxide now.

The Road to Rotorua ... and Mt. Doom!

K: Extreme adventure sports in New Zealand are just unbelievable. Bungy jumping was invented here in the 1980's. Now it is extreme bungy jumping (134 meters over the Nevis River in Queenstown), the "swing", sky diving, paragliding, hang gliding, jet boating, white water rafting, sledging, rope walks and the Zorb!

The Rotorua and Taupo areas are home to some of the most crazy extreme sports in NZ. On the road to Rotorua, we stopped in to witness the Zorb. Basically, one or two people are put into an inflatable sphere (with or without water) and hurtle down a steep hill. While somewhat enticing, we took a pass.

In Taupo, we witnessed bungy jumping and the "swing" over the Waikato River. Despite Viggo's best efforts, I took a pass on the "swing". It was probably a mistake, because the next option for a "swing" is in Queenstown. I think that swing is twice the drop, which doesn't please me.



Bungy Swing



Maori statue in Rotorua



Zorb



Stare-down with an emu



Beautiful waterfalls



Crazy volcanic rock winter ski hill



Not Bilbo, nor Frodo Baggins ...

Lake Taupo island	Huka Falls
Bungy drop
Ladies playing croquet in Rotorua
Zorb
Shop entrance in Tirau
Allium flowers are everywhere!
Mt. Ngauruhoe, aka Mt. Doom, in Lord of the Rings!

V: Once again, I like being Karen's chauffeur, on the left-hand side of the New Zealand roads, of course! It is fun driving major "motorways" that are really just a little more than rural Minnesota paved county highways.

I had an urge to do the solo bungy jump in Taupo, but, really, I'd much rather do the tandem 'bungy swing' with Karen, just because ... so I hold on to hope that we'll do it down the road, somewhere in the South Island, perhaps Queenstown.

The Zorb, well, just not that much thrill for me to think of going head over heels down a hill, rolling in a plastic bubble.

And, oh my, how nice and warm and relaxing were the thermal spa waters of the European Spa in Rotorua. The area is called the Sulphur City, and the Maoris were attracted to the mud baths and geothermal pools, which now attract huge numbers of visitors from all over the world. We had nice soaks in four pools, varying in temperatures, being perfect endings to the day.

Hey, who are those people all dressed in white? What a treat it was to observe some teams involved in lawn bowling matches on Monday night, and, Tuesday morn, people dressed in whites playing croquet. I must say, some version of croquet, for the wickets were not set up in the formation as we play it, and there was just one stick, so . . . I guess I need to learn their rules, to play it properly, clad in white, of course.

Oh, and really, isn't lawn bowling just curling on grass?

Yes, we got to see Mt. Doom of Lord of the Rings film fame, Mt. Ngauruhoe. There are gorgeous mountain passes and beautiful mountains in the middle of New Zealand, on the way from Taupo to Wellington. Easy to see why such country inspired those filmmakers.

I am excited about our upcoming three-day kayak cruise of the outer Charlotte Sound by Picton, South Island. It should be great to just get out there, in Nature. We will, though, be out of touch with technology until we get back onshore.