New Zealand...New Adventure!

Hi Friends!

 

I hope your Easter break was wonderful! We have just arrived home from New Zealand and our trip was amazzzing! What a beautiful country, and I can say that because it reminded us so much of Canada! And just in case you were itching to know...No, we did not eat any kiwi fruit and Nope we did not see any kiwi birds (actually we really thought we did but when we were snapping the pics a local informed us we were sadly mistaken!!) Here is a super duper long post to tell you all about our kiwi adventure!

 

We flew into Wellington ...or should I say Windy Welly, on Friday evening and the city definitely didn’t fail to live up to its name! Remember my last post where I boasted that we would be staying in the “ritzy Mercure Hotel”?  Well...yeah that wasn’t as spectacular as it was advertised but hey, we were ready for our vacay!! We walked the streets lined with old Victorian houses to funky Cuba St and checked out the iconic Te Papa Museum. After lunch on the wharf we hopped the 3 hour ferry and sailed south across Cook Straight and through the scenic Marlborough Sounds.

 

We spent our first night on the south island in Nelson, a pretty sleepy town aside from the local rugby game that caused the main drag to be closed off entirely. We could hear the riot from our restaurant and not a single room in the town or that adjacent to it was available.

On Sunday we set off in search of adventure down the surf battered coastal highway with spectacular views of the wild Tasman Sea. The winding single lane highway took us through the inland stretches and around peaks of the Southern Alps. We stopped at Ruby Bay surrounded by the grape fields and vineyards of wine country for lunch on the bay. It is now autumn here in our sphere of the globe and all the trees were changing colors from golden yellows to deep reds.

 

 

Abel Tasman National Park is NZ's most visited national park and it’s no wonder with its end-of-the world beauty. We hopped out for a coastal trek along the beach, the scenery was postcard perfect. We ended the day at an old tavern in Punakaiki and spent the night at Te Nikau Retreat in a little cabin in the rainforest.

 

 

Monday morning began with freshly baked chocolate chip muffins and another stroll along the ocean. The waves were massive and just being amongst the crashing wall of water we couldn’t help but be reminded that Mother Nature really is boss.

 

We stopped by the Pancake Rocks to marvel in nature’s beautiful fury. From Punakaiki to Greymouth, the road was flanked with white capped waves and rocky bays on one side and the steep green mountain ranges on the other. The highway along coastline offered spectacular Tasman Sea views, so fine that our trusty old Lonely Planet guide dubbed it one of the planets top 10 road trips...and we must say we agree!

 

It felt like we stepped back in time to a century gone by as we drove east through Lewis Pass on route to Hamner Springs for some R&R. There were endless fields and ancient farmhouses and sheep...oh the sheep. I heard once that there are more sheep in New Zealand than people...I can now confirm that it is a fact! We were starting to feel cold and soggy as the rain had been on and off for most of the day. The thermal pools (reaching a soothing 40 degrees) at Hamner Springs were the perfect remedy. That night we settled into a cozy little homestay for the evening.

On the last day of our NZ journey we took in the devastating destruction caused by the recent Christchurch earthquake that that swallowed the entire city`s downtown. Dave and I were shocked to see the piles and piles of cement, bricks and debris and all that was left in the aftermath of such a tragic quake. And to top off the trip, we experienced our first tremors, when the hotel room started to shake on three occasions. We read in the paper the next morning it was rated as 4.8 on the Richter scale!

 

I have to say that the south island of New Zealand is a sight to be seen. Sadly there just wasn’t enough time over the Easter break to see the North Island too, so we will just have to plan another trip back someday. Another country off the bucket list; Check!

Leave a comment to let me know what you think of the pictures that I took along the way!! There is still SO much to learn about my camera. Lucky for me, my handsome fiancé (have I mentioned how wonderful he is??) gave me a fabulous Easter prezy – a photography lesson on the gold coast, so I will be taking full advantage of that in the near future. I hope you all had a blessed Easter holiday too, what did you get up to?

Xo Tegs