Merry Christmas from the beaches of New Zealand

Merry Christmas from the beach!

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From Te Anau to Marahau

Once the Milford walking was over we had to get all the way from the south end of the south island up to Nelson, on the north end.....a good 16 hours drive. but what's that in the life of a kiwi, or for a seasoned traveller?! So we had a lovely drive all the way up the west coast in fantastic weather, which apparently is unheard of. So we went from the snowstorm to sunny rock beaches onthe west coast as well as amazing views of the glaciers on our way up. I feel like I've seen most of the island already! Been there, done that, all in 5 days! Mental! Just gave me a taste of the huge variety that there is here and for all the fun things I want to go back and do!! And then it was goodbye to all the kiwi lot and on to meet y dad. I've just been racing through places and experiences and different people these last few weeks, I'm having a hard time keeping up with things!!

Babs and Pa ready to tackle the Abel tasman walk

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Dad and the Abel Tasman track

But it was really lovely to see my dad after all this time! We had a great time chatting over a nice meal the first evening- and I really enjoying crashing at the lodge he was staying at. My first bath!! The bath I have been dreaming of for months was made a reality! wooohoo! And there was a spa pool. Such extravagance! Really nice to have my dad around to foot the bill for nice food and booze aswell ;)  But sadly all that was not to last- he'd booked us in for another trek over Christmas. Oh yes, more bl***y walking!! I've worked out that I've done about one in five days of trekking over the last five months if you average it out. The novelty is wearing off ever so slightly! But this walk was a lot easier, along the coast in the Abel Tasman park. And it was actually really really beautiful in a very different way. Not sure I've ever seen water that turquoise before, and the beaches really are just golden and stunning. And so empty! Amazing. To be honest I would rather have been lying on the beaches than traipsing across them in my boots and my big backpack, but hey. Did get in a bit of beaching so all good. In fact we had a bit of a close encounter with a sting ray first thing on christmas morning!! Went in the water for an early morning swim and nearly stepped on one of them!! Steve Irwin watch out. But all was ok because I ran out screaming like a crazy thing. Pretty cool though! :) We also got to sample local cuisine when a kiwi guy gave us some of the plants on route to sample. I.e. he furrowed around ina hairy looking fern tree and scooped out some nut like things for us to eat that weren't too bad and then afterwards we were also offered some white string-like stuff growing on the bark of this other tree that apparently tasted like sugar...only afterwards were we told that it was in fact bug excrement! As in poo! Just to round off our nice Christmas dinner with a bit of poo!! Ah all good. All in all an unforgettable Christmas - for whatever reason! :) Unfortunately Alison, who was supposed to be the third person in the group was ill so she stayed behind. Even more of a bummer for her spending Christmas alone, but what can you do.
The next day, not having had enough of adventure dad and I ventured out on Kayaks to do a bit of sea kayaking. All sounded great- a paddle along the beaches, barbeque on one of them, time to swim and explore etc..except it was absolutely pissing it down with rain!! What is it with New Zealand weather?! Completley unpredictable! But that never stops anyone! So we donned our sexy wet suits and splash tops, packed the cameras away in a water tight box and braved the wind and the rain. It was quite an adventure really! Especially lunch! The barbequa amazingly actually happened! Under a tarpaulin, with a gas fuelled barbeque! I have no idea where all the stuff suddenly appeared from but suddenly there was our guide Kerry with Pita bread, kebabs, a prtable bbq, even dessert! And all of that apparently had been stowed away with us! One of life's many mysteries ( to quote my dad!) And so we huddled and drank hot drinks and tried to stay warm and cheerful. And miraculously it stopped raining and instead turned into a beaitful day that gave us sunburn! So the paddle back was nice- we even tried sailing the kayaks for a bit. That was actually hilarious. We rafted all four kayaks up against one anotehr and the people on the outer sides held up a huge sail. The idea being that we wouldn't have to paddle... but sadly we just weren't getting the angel right so the sail was just flapping about all over the place. And poor Grant who was sitting in the front of the middle kayak was being slapped about the head constantly for about ten minutes! There was no escape for him either, the sail just attacekd him over and over and we were all in hysterics. Not sure he appreciated it quite as much though :)