| Diary 13 |
| 11th Oct 2005 Terry helped Shane around the farm - feeding, putting rings through pigs noses, feeding lambs etc.. He also went pig hunting (wild ones) where they caught one but let it go because it was a sow. He's having the time of his life! I just relaxed! After dinner we went to one of the 'neighbours' for a 30th wedding anniversary party. Nice to meet the whole village - about 14 people! Drank a few Tui's too!! 12th Oct 2005 Mel & Shane out all day at antinatal classes, so we pottered around sorting things out (drying tent, washing clothes etc), then popped into town - takes 45 mins to get there and we only wanted bread, cheese and beer!! 13th Oct 2005 Terry helped Mel & Shane dock the lambs (207 of them), while I spent ages on messenger with Toni!! Pottered round the garden admiring the views and playing with the lambs and piglet!! Went out for dinner at the hotel in Wangamomona, but forgot to take the passports so still not stamped!! 14th Oct 2005 Left the farm and drove to Wellington. Dropped hire car off (saves the money taking it over on the ferry) and sat in the bar of a backpackers hostel (no tent tonight again hooray), where the drinks were cheap and the rugby was on..... semi final between Otago and Canterbury (who Daniel Carter plays for - phoar!). We were cheering for Canterbury as if they won the final would be played in Christchurch and we could go and watch, but they lost so the final will be in Auckland - no chance of getting back there - gutted - bang goes our chance of watching any rugby here. 15th Oct 2005 Got ferry over to Picton and the South Island at last! Went straight to the restaurant on the ferry to feed the hangovers from the night before - one of us could face the fry up (pig), and one of us couldn't. Cruised through the Marlborough Sounds - definitely a great entrance to the South Island. Landed in Picton at midday and collected our new car, before driving to Abel Tasman National Park, via Queen Charlotte's Drive, getting some great views of the Sounds. Drove to Marahau and camped up for the night. Oh yeah - almost forgot to say..... the weather in the South is gorgeous!!! 16th Oct 2005 Picked up a double kayak and headed out of Marahau along the Abel Tasman coast on a three day freedom trip (on our own with the kayak).Brilliant blue skies, crystal clear aqua marine water, white sandy beaches - heaven! We paddled round to Anchorage Bay and set the tent up, then sunbathed on the beach for a couple of hours. Had dinner and went for a walk up to the lookout points where we could see the coast we'd kayaked earlier. Then sat on the beach watching the tide come in and the sky turn red. 17th Oct 2005 Woke up to the sun again and got everything packed into the kayak. Headed out of the bay and round to the lagoons, then further round the coast to a marine reserve, as far as Shag Harbour, where baby seals were playing in the sea around us - coming right up to the kayak to be nosey, so Terry managed to touch one. Back again we went to Tonga Island where there are more seal colonies and then headed back to Bark Bay to set up the tent. Bark Bay was practically deserted - so peaceful. This campsite was on a spit with the sea in front and lagoons behind - beautiful. Sat on the beach for a while, then Terry collected some mussels for dinner - not bad with sweet chilli sauce and pasta!!! When the moon came up (full moon) we went for a moonlight paddle - very peaceful, the water was as calm as a mill pond. Was unreal paddling in the moonlight. During the night an opossum tried to steal our food and rubbish bag so Terry chased it off a couple of times, but it was a persistant little sod so we ended up sleeping with the food and rubbish in our tiny tent - nice! 18th Oct 2005 This morning was different - sun struggling to come out and could hear the waves crashing on the beach from the tent. Got soaked launching the kayak into the breakers, but paddled out and was 'slightly' calmer, but rising up and down quite a lot! Terry loved it, but I wasn't so sure - just glad we don't get sea sick! Landed on the next beach round to remove some layers of clothes (as wasn't as cold as it looked), but almost lost our sandals because I struggled to get out of the kayak and the waves crashed in and filled the kayak up with water. Had to turn kayak over and pump the water out! Managed to relaunch again though with not 'too' many problems. Paddled like mad to get through the roughest bits - Mad Mile in particular - and when we got round to Watering Cove the sun was out, the sea was calm (out of the wind) and the beach was beautiful. Had lunch there and then headed over to Adele Island and Fisherman Island where we found another deserted beach to relax on (actually we decided to have a long jump competition, but that's another story...). Then paddled backed to Marahau and got collected and taken back to the office for a much needed shower. Kayaking is definitely the best way to see Abel Tasman - so many tiny coves and beaches not accessible by foot. Decided to drive up to Farewell Spit (didn't look far on the map), but was disapointed when we got there - couldn't get a good view (didn't help that the tide was out), so see guide book for a picture! Was getting late and dark driving back so decided just to get back to Marahau and not go any further, so camped there for the night again. 19th Oct 2005 Left Marahau to head over to Karamea and the Opara Basin on the West Coast. Stopped off in Richmond to stock up on food, then had another lovely scenic drive. Arrived in Karamea and set the tent up - quite busy here as it's the white bait season and people come from all over to catch some - and spent the evening by the heater in the TV room (the nights get so cold). 20th Oct 2005 Drove into the Oparara Basin and did a couple of short walks to Operara Arch and Moria Gate Arch - beautiful limestone arches, and Mirror Tarn - exactly what it says - the reflection was great. Then to some caves - but I didn't go in because of the big cave spiders. Then we walked to Scott's Beach - first part of the Heaphy Track. Terry climbed a huge rock on the beach (30') but camera battery died so no photo. Too many sand flies so didn't hang around. Another night in teh TV room, but all that was on was Coronation St and a documentary about teenage mums in the Britain - great!!! |