Road trip!!!

Road trip!!! It says it all. Mike and I hired a car and drove. Stayed in Nelson for the first night and woke up to yet another gloriest day. Mike's first time driving in N.Z and also on the left. Very scary. Made it to the centre of New Zealand, and what a georgous view of Nelson. We drove up around Queen Charlotte Sound to Picton, the ferry was in and getting loaded. We decided to keep moving and we hit a rainy Kaikoura(where we thought we would spend the night). WRONG... No accomodation. So we got some dinner, hit the road and after following Mike's instructions we ended up a dead end road. At the end of this road was a seal colony which he said he knew was there. Yeah Right!!! So after a laugh and some photos we hit the road thinking we would stop at the nearest motel. After driving all the way to CHRISTCHURCH we found one. The next day was another beautiful day, Mike got a brouchre on some cheap golf only $80 a game, Yeah Right!!! So back driving, off to Hamner Springs. A nice queit little Hot Springs Town. NOT! It was like Whangamata in the summertime and there was a half hour wait to get into the pools. So we went and played mini golf and went thru a maze. We stopped at Maruia, Hot Springs. This was perfect, queit, little and just georgous. After bathing for a couple of hours we drove to Reefton and stayed in a Pioneer House B&B. The next day we visited The Monteiths Brewery in Greymouth and then went to the Pancake Rocks on the way back up the coast. We stopped at the longest swing bridge in New Zealand and Mike managed to get a free flying fox ride back across the river. I only made it half way across then turned back. Ha ha ha ha I guess some things will never change. We had a great weekend. The South Island is great.

The Abel Tasman Kayaking Trip

Kayaking, I know, it is so not me. But i wanted to see the Abel Tasman before i left so i asked Ruth if she would like to join me. Kaiteriteri Kayaks, they picked us up at the clock tower and dropped us off at the beach. We were rather nervous. We met our guide (Shane). He was great. There was about 14 of us and we all jumped into double kayaks. I was at the back so i had to steer the thing as well. And after a night on the tequila this was not coming to me naturally. So off we paddled, bout 500m to a couple of seals sitting on a little island just of shore. Camera's out, clicking away. The i realized that Ruth couldnt see them, ha ha so had to try and turn the thing around for her to have a look. Shane said come on then we're off. So we followed him between rocks(hitting every single one as we went)and off into the open water. Let me tell you it was a picture perfect day. We paddled up the coast where he told us stories about the history of the place as we went. The next little bay there was a house built on the beach, I kid you not. IT WAS ON THE SAND. Then we paddled up to Split Apple Rock. We stopped here for an hour or so then back into the kayak. Well I managed that but Ruth decided to put her wrong leg in first and just fell straight into the bloody water. Well fuck did I laugh...and laugh... and laugh... It looked so funny. Then all she could do was laugh, I think we held the group up for 10 mins while we composed ourselves. We paddled out and shane made us get up on the kayaks and do the haka. Lucky no one fell in. A very nice and relaxing paddle back to the beach followed. A water-taxi awaited us and took us up to the seal colony up the coast(there wasnt a lot of seals there) then dropped us on a beach near by. From here walked 2 hrs over the Abel Tasman Track, what a beautiful area of the world. Reflecting on our day as we walked and laughing more about the falling in the water thing. Ruth doesnt like to call it "falling out of the kayak" because she said she wasnt even in it. We walked to Bark Bay where the boat picked us up and took us back to Kaiteriteri. What a great day we had. But i can still say that the whole kayaking thing is still very foreign to me.

The Ultimate Thrill

Well if you havent guessed yet, I did it again. SKYDIVING!!! Mike and I were suppose to have a go at hanggliding. So we rang up to book in and the guy wasnt working for the next week. "What else should we do?" Skydiving was the answer. This was my 3rd go but Mike had never done it before. And yes he did the whole I'm staunch thing again. So funny watching him as the time grew nearer to jump. We walked to the airfeild and he got very quiet. I was rather excited this time. He had decided to jump the 13,000 feet, I did the 9,000 feet. Well all ready to go, we hopped it the plane. My instructor was dave, he was great. And what a blast, it was so much better than the first 2 jumps. I really took advantage of knowing what would happen and I loved it. You could see for miles, all up the Abel Tasman, it was beautiful. Mike hit the ground and was buzzing. Totally freaked out at first then major adrenalin buzz kicking in. WOW... For those fellow jumpers, you will know what i mean. And now would love to do it again.