Farewell, Nelson!

Nelson has become a second home, and with it we found a second family. The long-termers and fellow workers we met at Tasman Bay Backpackers were great, and we ended our time with them by having a rowdy and joyful party full of hugs, music, funkyball, late night breakfast and a little bit of braiding each other's hair.

Nelson Lakes Day Trip

We took a spontaneous day trip to the Nelson Lakes National Park with a few friends this week. The views were typical New Zealand stunners, and the sunshine made the chilly winter breeze very pleasant.

The Three Amigos (+ many more)

Sam has been playing a lot of music lately with Jeremias and Teppo, our fellow guests at Tasman Bay Backpackers. After serenading the hostel guests all week, the guys decided to try their hand at busking at the Nelson Market.

Pancake Rocks to Nelson

Our last leg of driving up the West Coast, from Greymouth to Westport, transported me to a landscape I've always associated with Central America. The blinding sun illuminated the misty humidity hanging in the air, and palm trees flanked the narrow, winding coastal road. Eventually we reached the much-anticipated pancake rocks of Punakaiki.

A Tale of Two Passes

Mr. Kea gives a little flash of his red underwings.

Our route has been mostly coastal, but we decided to cut across the middle of the South Island and back again for a few reasons. First, we wanted to see Arthur's Pass, second, we thought it would be nice to visit our friends in Christchurch again, and third, we needed a jalapeño refill!

We had another kea encounter when we stopped to overlook a bridge. There he was, eating crackers someone had left, completely undisturbed by our presence. By the way he gobbled up the crackers greedily, he must have thought we were more of a threat to his snack than to his life.

Camping on the West Coast

On the road from Arrowtown to Haast, we saw the landscape transform from rugged, dry mountains one might see in West Texas to a lush rainforest. Gillespie's Beach is one of the few free DOC campsites, and therefore very crowded. When we mounted a small hill to pitch our tent, we were struck with stunning views of the Southern Alps, pastel pink and purple with the light of the setting sun.

Arrowtown to Haast

Fog & hot air balloons over Michael Hill's golf course.

Our ten days in Arrowtown flew by. We worked hard painting the house and enjoyed delicious meals and comfortable living in exchange.

Our hosts Paula & Bede were very nice, and one particularly memorable afternoon was spent driving up the river in search of gold. I felt like we were in a truck commercial when Bede told us to roll up the windows and plunged the ute into a deep ford, water sloshing up around the cab as we bounced over rocks in the riverbed. We zigzagged our way down the river, eventually finding a good spot to pan.

Fiordlands

When you hear someone mention New Zealand, you might recall the epic scenery from Lord of the Rings. While the entire country is full of beauty, little else can match the scale of the Fiordlands and the Southern Alps.

 See Harry frolicking in the valley here.

Taking the scenic route

From Invercargill we drove to Lumsden, a journey that can be made in 80 kilometers. We did it in about 280 kilometers, stopping along the way to enjoy the scenery as far west as we could go.

Invercargill to Orepuki

If you've ever seen the film The World's Fastest Indian, you will have heard about Burt Munro and his customized motorcycle that crossed the world to set speed records that still stand today. Burt built his masterpiece in his shed in Invercargill, New Zealand, and some of his bikes and parts are on display in the local hardware store.

The Lost Gypsy of Papatowai

Just off the scenic road through the Catlins, there is a dummy holding a Curios sign, pointing to a big green caravan that looks like it could belong to the Weasleys. This was my favorite stop in the Catlins, the Lost Gypsy Caravan. We first heard of this eccentric treasure from a DVD called South.

Moeraki

Due to rainy weather and our very kind hosts in Oamaru, we didn't end up camping in Moeraki on our way to Dunedin. We made an epic day trip of it instead.

Couchsurfing in Otago

We spent our last day in Christchurch tracking down a tent and lunching with our friends Elise & Sylvain, whom we first met in Auckland at Olive & Graeme's. It was so good to catch up with them again after all these months.



The scenery on our first day was beautiful, as expected. We hugged the coast for a while, spotting hay bales beside the ocean before heading inland to rolling hills of bright green farmland.

Not-So-Sunny Nelson

Nelson, known for being the sunniest place in New Zealand, has been mostly cloudy and pouring rain since we arrived, but we've still managed to enjoy ourselves.  We've even had a bit of sunshine.  We're in good company with Bill, our HelpX host, his deaf old dog Bear and his feisty chicken Fuifui Moimoi. Fuifui was named for a rugby league player, in case you're wondering.

Fuifui stalking around Bear while he gnaws a fresh bone.