Seamus arrived last Saturday, my first day of Spring break and stayed for a week! The following day we headed up towards Abel Tasman National Park which is at the top of the Southern Island. Driving was an interesting experience. The “highways” here are incredibly windy and occasionally scary and there is no such thing as a speed limit. Driving on the left side of the road was an experience, particularly going in round-a-bouts which are all over the place here! Someone seemed to think that I hugged the left shoulder but I thought I drove just fine on the opposite side. (Mom, you’d probably agree since you’ve never thought I was the best of drivers J )
We stopped at Hanmer Springs about 2 hours north of Christchurch where they have thermal and sulfur hot springs. It was a nice break from the car and the surrounding area was beautiful. We ended up leaving Hanmer a little late, however, because we did not make it to our final destination for the night until about 8pm. Driving in the dark on the crazy highway roads going to a place that felt like the middle of nowhere was scary enough, until we arrived at our place for the night to realize no one was there. The women I had emailed to make our reservation had failed to tell me that you needed to check in by 5pm. So, it was pitch black and we literally had no idea where we were or how to get anywhere else, with no where to sleep. We eventually found a door in the lodge we were supposed to stay in unlocked and decided to sleep on the bunks for the night. It was a little scary especially when Seamus started talking about ax-murderers. I’d like to think I was the less scared of the two of us J
The next morning we woke up to realize we were right on the water overlooking the mountains. It was strange and frustrating when the women seemed to think it was no big deal that we had to practically break in because we couldn’t check in. That morning we got all our stuff ready for hiking in the park. The same woman informed us that a huge nor’easter was coming on Wednesday, which was supposed to be our last day in the park. We figured this would be okay until we began our drive to the car park we were planning on leaving our car at and realized the road would be unsafe to drive on if a storm came. This was very stressful since we’d planned out the trip so perfectly but we figured out a new plan that actually ended up working perfectly! In the end of the day we spent one night in a hut on the track and another camping and had 2 beautiful days in the park. We were able to leave our big packs at the hut for the day hike because we were hiking back to the same place that day instead of continuing on in the park which was our original plan. Obviously I loved this because I didn’t have to carry anything-and Seamus very nicely carried our lunches and water! It was nothing like I’ve ever seen before; the views were incredible. We got to see seals, which is one of my all time favorite things! The two we saw at separation point were playing in the water right below us! We even swam in the ocean. Except it was more like run in and run out because it was so cold. On the second night in the park we were sitting at our campfire and we saw 5 people just coming in to the hut around 8pm wearing head-lamps. They happened to be 5 of my good friends from school who didn’t quite calculate the tidal crossings correctly, so had to hike part of the track in the dark. It was great that we got to see them and hang out with them that night! We had an amazing time and really felt like we saw the best part of the park ,which was nice after all the stress of having to change our plans at the very last minute.
We left the park on Wednesday morning and drove to Nelson, which is a small city half way between the park and wine country. We stayed at a hostel called “The Palace” which ended up being one of the cooler places we saw. Everyone there was so relaxed and it was a really cool atmosphere. A lot of people staying there have lived there for a few months, so it had a nice sense of community. It was decorated beautifully and was a very unique old house with a great view of the city and a wrap-around porch to enjoy the view. We relaxed for the day and walked around the town. I especially enjoyed my warm shower after being in the park for 2 and a half days. We both felt like it was nice to see some civilization after seeing almost no one for the past 3 days. One of the most surprising parts of the trip for both of us was how few people actually live here. We could drive for literally hours without seeing either a car on the road or a house where someone lived. All you saw was sheep. Lots and lots and lots and lots of sheep. (And also lots of one or two week old lambs running around with their mothers which I loved!)
We headed out early the next morning for Blenheim, which is right in the middle of the wine region in Marlborough. We went to 7 or so vineyards throughout the morning and afternoon to do free wine tastings. I think I’ve finally acquired a taste for wine, or at least I enjoyed the sauvignon blancs which is what the region is known for. I was surprised how incredibly different one sauvignon blanc at one vineyard could taste from another. It was also interesting to try some of the wines that were made from the fruit on the exact same tree but processed in a different way. You would never know you were drinking the exact same fruit. I felt pretty sophisticated once I was able to ask questions about wine that made sense, haha. It was a lot more fun than I expected and we met some really interesting people along the way. It’s definitely the off season for wine tasting and touring so the women working loved talking to us. We spend about half an hour at every vineyard having really nice conversations with the women we met. That night Seamus brought me out to dinner in the town. I tried salmon, which I actually really enjoyed! I’m going to try to add some fish to my diet (good thing huh nonie?!) It was a really nice relaxing day and very different from our time in the park.
The place we stayed at that night was run by a really nice couple who did a lovely job keeping up the place. They had a beautiful piece of land and we stayed in a little cottage type thing with a kitchen and bathroom. They gave us breakfast in the morning including eggs from their hens and marmalade made from homegrown fruit! It was all delicious. We headed out early in the morning for Kaikora to go skydiving!! It was the perfect day, and the view was amazing. It was a pretty indescribable experience. The company was run by a couple; Henk and Sarah. Henk is from Holland and Sarah is from England and they created the company about a year and a half ago in Kaikora. I went up first with Henk while Seamus stayed on the ground with Sarah. We flew up in the tiniest plane; it took about 20 minutes to get up to 13,000 ft. You could see the snow capped mountains on one side and the clear blue water and beach out of the other window of the plane. It was one of the most beautiful things I think I’ve ever seen. Then the next thing you know you’re being pushed out of the plane and spinning in the air, falling towards the ground. Once the parachute was released Henk let me steer it using the pull tabs on the sides. Sarah took pictures of us landing. It was a great experience and I loved that we did it with such a small company because it made it feel so much more personal and they made me very comfortable. We both had a blast! Again, I’d like to think Seamus was a little more nervous than me, but who knows!
After skydiving we drove back to Christchurch and I brought Seamus out for Indian for his last night in NZ. After that we hung out with some of my friends who had returned from their journeys around NZ. On Saturday we went into town and walked around the city; it was a really nice day. Overall, it was a great trip- it was so nice to get out of the Christchurch area and see more of this beautiful country! In an hour I’m getting on a plane for Fiji for hopefully another amazing week of Spring Break!!
I'll put up pictures next week-I'm running a little short on time for catching my flight!
