New Zealand South Island Feb 22 - Feb 29

OK, let's start with the Camelbacks. Tom called the lodge where we stayed and there was a very interesting conversation about how to get them to us. Tom kept asking about FedEx, which this guy didn't get at all, and he kept talking about the post courier service. Eventually, we figured out this was the way to go but we had to call the courier service to get the details on where they could ship it to because we had no idea where we would be staying over the next few days. The Courier service recommended a store in the town of Motueka but we had to call them to see if they would accept delivery. Oh yea, they couldn't give us the phone number because they can't give out phone numbers of their clients (even though this was a retail store) and, we couldn't pay for it because we were not a client of the courier service. So Tom had to call the lodge to see if they would pay for it and charge it to our credit card which they agreed to do. Next, we had to drive to a Travel Information Site to get the phone number of the place we wanted to ship it to. We called them and they agreed to accept delivery. Called the lodge, gave them the information and waited to see if this would all work because the guy at the lodge had to pack these things up for us and deliver them to the courier service which he did on his time off before he came to work the next day. We never thought that this package would get to us in time to start the Abel Tasman.

With high hopes that we would see our Camelbacks again, we left Westport and started our drive towards Motueka. That morning we drove through the Buller Gorge which was a scenic drive along the Buller river and even stopped for a few minutes at the Buller Gorge swingbridge, supposedly the longest swingbridge in NZ. Turned out to be a tourist trap (all the buses stop there), figured we had been on enough swingbridges on the Milford, looked at each other, got back in the car and took off. The next stop was Lake Rotoroa in the Nelson Lake National Park. This area has a lot of scenic meadows, rivers and lakes. Unfortunately, when we got to Lake Rotoroa, we were attacked by the nasty sandflies. They swarm all over you so we took a few pictures got the hell out of there. Did we mention we hate sandflies.

We continued our long drive to Montueka and when we got there it was late and we couldn't find a place to stay so we stopped in the tourist center and they hooked us up with Jeffrey and his family in a little cottage on his property. This place was cute and it suited our needs so well we decided to spend an extra day to get caught up with laundry, pictures, the blog, etc. Jeffrey was a wealth of knowledge of tramping in New Zealand. He had spent 4 months with his family hiking in the area and he seemed to know every trail and have maps and books for it. He especially gave us helpful information on where to drive to and leave our car for the section in Abel Tasman that we were going to begin our tramp. But first, the Camelbacks.....we went to the store where they were being shipped and to our amazement the package showed up and the cost was only $16 NZ. Here's to John at the Fox Glacier Lodge!

The next day we left Montueka and drove through Kaiteriteri and Marahau the normal places where most people begin the Abel Tasman hike but then continued our drive to the place that Jeffrey recommended.
To get there we had to drive over the Takaka hill which was a pretty large hill (about 3000') so we're not sure why they call it a hill, but whatever! The town closest to the start of the tramp was called Pohara so we found a place to stay and get packed up for the hike there.

We planned on staying 3 days out on Abel Tasman which is another New Zealand Great Walk. This is a coastal tramp along a tropical forest linking many beautiful coves and beaches which people either walk or kayak. Unlike the Milford where we stayed in huts our packs were enen heavier because in addition to food we had to carry water for a few days and our tent (we started to appreciate, and not consider fanatic, those people that cut their toothbrushes in half to save weight...).

The first day we were supposed to start at Totaranui and hike south to Arowa Bay. When we went to check in, the woman in the DOC's office told us there was a possible wasp problem at that campground so we needed to adjust our plans.

We took a water taxi to the next cove south of Awaroa, Onetahuti Beach, which happens to be one of the most beautiful beaches on the hike and picked out a great campsite just steps from the beach.



Onetahuti is a huge crescent shaped beach that takes about 30 minutes to walk end to end. It was absolutely a magnificent site.













Several places on the Abel Tasman have tidal crossing which can only be crossed at low tide. We had decided to hike from our beach to Awaroa for dinner at the Awaroa lodge and fortunately for us low tide was at 7:00 and you can cross two hours either side of low tide. The walk to the lodge was about an hour each way, so that gave us two hours for cocktails and dinner. Up to about three years ago, the lodge was just a backpackers hostel but is now a high end (they have a helicopter to fly you in for lunch) hotel and restaurant all in an eco friendly setting. They have a huge organic garden and grow all their own vegetables and herbs. Everything else needs to be hiked in. We had a great dinner in a great setting and barely managed to make it back in time to cross the inlet.









Now......let me tell you a little story about a possum. We went to sleep and we could hear the cute little furry things running around the campground. Possums are a common occurrence in New Zealand and, we are told, are not usually aggressive. So when they were actually bouncing off of our tent and snarling just outside, we were not concerned. Tom could actually go to sleep and keep telling Pat "they're just playing"! A few hours later, around 2:00 in the morning, it definitely sounded like they were eating at the corner of our tent. When Tom went and looked, sure enough there was a 3"x3" hole one of them had eaten in the side and then actually started noshing on our backpack which was leaning against the tent. If not for the backpack, he would have been in. When Tom moved the backpack you could actually see his mouth and his beady little eyes! Tom spent the rest of the night with one of the trekking poles in his hand (Bill and Joe, can't you just picture this). He actually whacked the bastard on his nose each time he poked his little head in the hole. About 2 hours later, we figured we could plug that hole with a large piece of moleskin we had in the medical kit. I think Tom gave the cute furry little thing a concussion because eventually he gave up! It's all good!



The next morning (very tired), we packed up and hiked North to Anapai Beach. I know it sounds redundant but it was another beautiful beach. What's nice about hiking north on the Tasman is that the further north you go, the more isolated it is. When we got to Anapai, we were the only ones there for hours. We pitched the tent, made dinner, watched the sunset and crashed for the night (no possums).








The next day we left the Abel Tasman and drove to the northwest end of the island which is called Golden Bay. We went to a huge windswept beach called Wharariki beach. This beach looked like the Sahara meeting the sea. The sand dunes were massive! In the water were large rock formations, caves and arches. This all provided another spectacular New Zealand moment.

We drove back to Motueka for the night. The next day, we hiked Mt. Arthur and then started our drive towards Picton for the ferry to the North Island. Spent the first night in Nelson which was far to large for our liking but truly a nice town and the next night in Picton after a stunning coastal drive. Next stop......North Island.





Hiking Mt. Arthur
This one is for Alex