We started from our apartment in Devonport and drove straight down the North Island, all the way to Wellington on our first day. Early the next morning we caught a ferry to Picton on the South Island and from there drove to Kaiteriteri, where we stayed for the next five days. It was a beautiful, tiny town on a huge golden beach. Since it was at the edge of the Abel Tasman National Park, we had only a short drive to the start of the Coastal walking track. We did a full day (7 hour) hike down the coast after being dropped off by a water taxi further up the coast. It was amazing with views of the sea and coastline and with great beach stops along the way. We also did a full day guided kayak trip along the same coast which was another great perspective of it all (still waiting on the waterproof camera pics of that). We saw seals up close and lunched on a secluded beach. On a few rainy days, we hung out in Motueka, drove up north threw Takaka as well as over to Nelson on the other side of the bay.
For the next week, we headed back east, then north to the very tip of the Marlborough Sounds to French Pass. This really tiny township with only seven permanent residents was at the end of the scariest, narrow gravel road that curved along step hillsides. It was beautiful though (and worth the drive) and we had a stunning view of the bay from our apartment. The hosts of our accommodation at Sea Safaris took us out on several sea fishing trips, we caught tons of blue cod and snapper that fed us for the next week! We also went on their wildlife tour and saw some rare King Shag birds, as well as other sea birds and seals. Some dolphins came to play in the bay on Christmas Eve morning to entertain us and we watched some beautiful sunsets and a sunrise in between a few rainy days.
From here our planned trip ended and we decided to spend our "last few days" down at the Nelson Lakes (about 1.5 hrs south of Nelson town) camping in our new tent set-up. The lakes were beautiful, but the sand flies were awful (terrible, tiny mosquito like bugs), and the weather was cold and rainy. We weren't prepared for cold mountain weather, but survived a few nights while Andy tried out the trout fishing and we explored the area. The day before we left here, I mentioned that I would really like to see the west coast again... Andy agreed... we checked in with our bosses and extended the trip! We figured we'd never be down here again, had a cheap place to sleep and couldn't pass it up. In search of better fishing and with a the Black Seeds coming to town, we headed back up to Motueka for several days. Andy fished once on the Motueka River and we went to the concert in, middle-of-nowhere, Riwaka for our (Jan. 2nd) New Year's bash.
Next, we drove southwest through the Buller Gorge and down the rugged west coast highway, stopping at our favorite brewery, Monteith's, along the way, to a little town called Punakaiki. We stayed at a camp ground that had sheer cliffs on one side and a huge beach on the other. We did a pretty river walk just opposite our camp, visited the "famous" Pancake Rocks, and visited a secluded little pebble-sand beach. One night wasn't enough here, but after two we moved on to Moana, Lake Brunner. We had a beautiful view the mountains set behind the lake from our campground. Andy went out with a fishing guide while I read and jogged along the nice trails around the lake and river.
Next was a couple nights stop in Franz Joseph. This town exists solely for the glacier of the same name, so we felt that we had to follow the crowds and hike on it. This "not to be missed" activity was nothing less than bizarre. We geared up in wet weather clothes, boots and cramp-ons, walked 2+ kilometers down the edge of a rocky river, over some cliffs, and onto the terminal face of the glacier. We hiked up ice-axe carved steps, through icy valleys, stepped over huge cracks, avoided gushing holes, squeezed through walls of ice and crawled through ice caves! I was too scared to enjoy a lot of it, but the views and oddness of it were pretty amazing!
From here we had a long, but scenic drive, past Lake Matheson where we sadly did not see Mt. Cook's reflection, along the coast, over the Southern Alps on the Haast Pass, and past several more beautiful lakes to Wanaka. The weather was great here and it was a nice time to relax in a slightly more populous area. (Had another celebrity sighting - saw James Ryan, an All Black, at a restaurant there... Andy swears he checked me out. ;))
Hitting our southern mark, we headed back north, but inland this time, to Lake Tekapo. The drive was dry and barren through the Mackenzie Country where we stopped in Twizel, had several great views of Mt. Cook, and stopped at a salmon farm for fresh fillets. Lake Tekapo was stunning... it (and several lakes around) are bright turquoise due to "rock flour" particles caused by glacier carving. This powder is suspended in the water and with the sunlight, they reflect bright blue. It was too windy there for Andy to fish as planned, so instead we drove around the area and enjoyed the views.
Next, we went all the way over to the east coast to Kaikoura. I felt like I couldn't leave without doing what they do best there... a dusky dolphin tour. (Last year we did a whale watching flight, which was also great.) Even at 5:30 am the trip was well worth it! The small dusky dolphins were so fun and playful and we saw pods of up to 400! We also stopped at a few of Kaikoura's seal colonies to get an up close look at them (again).
With such an early start, we made it all the way to the ferry this same day, up to the North Island, and all the way to Turangi - sun up to sun down, plus some! We spent a few sunny days here while Andy fished the Tongoriro and I had some down time to organize pictures and walk along the great river tracks. He caught 10 trout here (with another 6 that just got away- the water was fast and the fish were big!) and kept a couple to take home. While we were sad to end our trip, we decided we'd better get home and back to work.
Our families were glad to hear from us and our bosses were glad to have us back to work... with TJ Formal moving to a new website in my absence (which is awesome by the way - you should check it out) and with Bryan's girlfriend Margaret still recovering from her back surgery, we were needed here.
The trip was amazing, the weather was great, and now we can say we've really seen the best of the South Island!
