The next day we made our way up the west coast (and eventually had my birthday dinner which was fantastic!) and onto Hokitikia where we met my parents again. Hokitika seemed lovely and we enjoyed the sea views (and a shower) from my parents hotel room! We then made our way up to Punakaike to see the Pancake Rocks. We arrived just before sunset so the place looked amazing in the light and I enjoyed taking pictures of the funny shaped rocks! There were blowholes in the rocks and we caught a few glimpses of huge amounts of water being blown up and into the air..a great sight!
The scenery along the northern west coast was stunning and we passed lots of golden sanded beaches. We turned inland and had another great drive through the Buller Gorge. That night we camped at Nelson Lakes National Park, just by Lake Rotorua. It was so lovely and we made plans to come back to this area and explore. Unfortunately we did get attacked by hundreds of sandflies though which made the morning washing up and brushing teeth duties quite unbearable.
We arrived in sunny Motueka on the beautiful north eastern coast, also the gateway to the magnificent Abel Tasman National Park. We met up with both sets of parents who were staying in the fantastic spa resort Kimi Ora in Kaiteriteri (who very kindly let us stay in their car park!) We enjoyed tasty vegetarian meals from the restaurant and lovely refreshing showers from our parents room!
The scenery along the northern west coast was stunning and we passed lots of golden sanded beaches. We turned inland and had another great drive through the Buller Gorge. That night we camped at Nelson Lakes National Park, just by Lake Rotorua. It was so lovely and we made plans to come back to this area and explore. Unfortunately we did get attacked by hundreds of sandflies though which made the morning washing up and brushing teeth duties quite unbearable.
We arrived in sunny Motueka on the beautiful north eastern coast, also the gateway to the magnificent Abel Tasman National Park. We met up with both sets of parents who were staying in the fantastic spa resort Kimi Ora in Kaiteriteri (who very kindly let us stay in their car park!) We enjoyed tasty vegetarian meals from the restaurant and lovely refreshing showers from our parents room!
We all discussed how and what we would do to explore the amazing Abel Tasman National Park. Chris and his parents decided they would walk the whole park, taking trips in the ferry each day where they finished the day before.
On day 1 they started at Marahau and walked about 4 hours to Torrent Bay where they met the ferry to take them back to Kaiteriteri. The next day they walked from Torrent Bay to Tonga and on Day 3 they went all the way up to Mutton Cove and walked down to Awaroa. They pretty much walked the whole park and did about 40k..great effort!
My parents and I had a great walk on our first day, we got the ferry to beautiful Torrent Bay and walked about 2 hours to Bark Bay. The walk was lovely, the views were great of beaches and sand bars in the distance, and there was a huge swing bridge to walk across too. Bark Bay is one of the most amazing beaches I have ever seen..it was perfect! In fact all of the beaches in the Abel Tasman National Park are spectacular..the sand is so white and the sea is a lovely bright blue, and the backdrop of green forest makes them so picturesque. But we really fell in love with Bark Bay, we had lunch there and waited for the ferry to take us back to Kaiteriteri.
Tom arrived from the North Island that evening, it was great to see him again and hear what he´d been up to! We had a lovely evening out by the beach and Chris cooked a huge Spaghetti Bolognase for everyone from the van. It was a great meal and definitely the most people we had ever cooked for in the van!
The next day we decided to do some kayaking around some of the lovely bays. Chris came with us this day, we set off from Kaiteriteri and kayaked around to the next few bays, passing islands and the Spilt Apple Rock..which looks a lot like a split apple!
The highlight of the day was yet to come though. While sat on the beach waiting for our kayaks, we spotted a very fun activity. It basically consisted of a very fast speed boat towing a rubber ´donut´ ring around the bay and a lot of screaming! We had to do it. And we did. And it was amazing!!
It was so so much fun -I can´t even describe how funny it all was. We just couldn´t stop laughing and screaming the whole time. Tom kept signalling the driver to go faster..and he did! We were going so fast that Tom and I fell out..twice!! I still have no idea how this happened, especially as I was in the middle and apparently the person in the middle never falls out..but of course I did! Chris was definitely the ultimate winner and stayed in the whole time! It was just absolutely hilarious and we wanted to do it again immediately!
The next day Dad, Mum, Tom and I hired a boat from a man called Dave and took it up to explore the park. This was another very funny moment. The boat was bright green and didn´t go faster than about 7 knots. It was a very slow motor boat. We had imagined sailing up the Abel Tasman National Park in style, Tom and I sunbathing on the deck, Mum making cocktails from the bar and Dad relaxing at the wheel. Mmmn, not quite..take a look at the boat..named Ahsleigh Stevens.
On day 1 they started at Marahau and walked about 4 hours to Torrent Bay where they met the ferry to take them back to Kaiteriteri. The next day they walked from Torrent Bay to Tonga and on Day 3 they went all the way up to Mutton Cove and walked down to Awaroa. They pretty much walked the whole park and did about 40k..great effort!
The next day we decided to do some kayaking around some of the lovely bays. Chris came with us this day, we set off from Kaiteriteri and kayaked around to the next few bays, passing islands and the Spilt Apple Rock..which looks a lot like a split apple!
The highlight of the day was yet to come though. While sat on the beach waiting for our kayaks, we spotted a very fun activity. It basically consisted of a very fast speed boat towing a rubber ´donut´ ring around the bay and a lot of screaming! We had to do it. And we did. And it was amazing!!
It was so so much fun -I can´t even describe how funny it all was. We just couldn´t stop laughing and screaming the whole time. Tom kept signalling the driver to go faster..and he did! We were going so fast that Tom and I fell out..twice!! I still have no idea how this happened, especially as I was in the middle and apparently the person in the middle never falls out..but of course I did! Chris was definitely the ultimate winner and stayed in the whole time! It was just absolutely hilarious and we wanted to do it again immediately!
The next day Dad, Mum, Tom and I hired a boat from a man called Dave and took it up to explore the park. This was another very funny moment. The boat was bright green and didn´t go faster than about 7 knots. It was a very slow motor boat. We had imagined sailing up the Abel Tasman National Park in style, Tom and I sunbathing on the deck, Mum making cocktails from the bar and Dad relaxing at the wheel. Mmmn, not quite..take a look at the boat..named Ahsleigh Stevens.
So we motored off in our bright green boat. Mum drove it most of the way and Dad directed. I sat and admired the scenery- which was of course amazing! Tom meanwhile, was asleep on the back of the boat. He´d been asleep for most of the morning and we thought nothing of it, he normally slept until about midday anyway. We visited Tonga Island where we saw lots of lovely fur seals lazing around and sunning themselves and then made our way to Bark Bay for some lunch.
Dad very carefully drove us into shore and Mum and I found a spot on the beautiful beach to have lunch. Tom was still asleep. Dad tried to wake him to get him to help with some carrying of bags and he reluctantly got up. For some reason he was so tired..a little bit too tired. We then realised that Mum had given him some sea sickness pills early on in the morning and these had knocked him out! Poor Tom, well at least he didn´t get sea sick!
We had a yummy picnic on the beach and relaxed on land for a bit. I wanted to use to toilets across the other side of the beach so started to walk over there. Unfortunately I walked right into a very angry oyster catcher bird..a jet black bird with a bright red beak. It would not let me pass! Each time I tried it would fly into me and attack me with its beak. I was terrified! Then another one appeared and they both flew at me and poked me with their sharp beaks! I gave up, walked back and told the others. Tom gave it a go and so did Mum but the birds would not let us pass! We figured out they had an egg and a nest and were protecting it (very well!). We wanted to see the egg so took it in turns to distract the bird and the other would run to see the nest! It was really scary but we all managed a quick peek at the lovely big speckled egg!
We all loved Abel Tasman, it was definitely a highlight of the trip- Chris, Tom and I made plans to come and walk the whole trek in a few weeks and I couldn´t wait to get back there. Sadly though, it was time for our parents to fly back home. We travelled to Nelson where Ian and Aly were flying from and said our goodbyes. It was such an amazing holiday we´d had with them and it was sad it was over. My parents were getting the ferry back and we had one last night in Nelson..where we went for the best meal we have had so far in New Zealand at Hopgoods restaurant. Mmmmn we loved it!! The next day we said our sad goodbyes to my parents. The whole month with our parents had been amazing-what a holiday!
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