Jax's birthday suprise!

I opened my birthday card at breakfast, to find info for a 2 day Kayaking trip along the Abel tasman coast! how cool was that!! very exciting. We arrived at Kaiteriteri, where our adventure would begin. Altogether there were 7 in our party and the guide 'Darryl' who would be looking after us for the next 2 days. Weirdly, most of us were ex pat Brits!
So we had instruction on how to pack out kayaks, paddling technique, and a discussion of where our journey would take us.
 We were then taken by water taxi, to our starting beach, and loaded our belongings, camping gear and food/.drinks onto our boats.                  

loading up

chez matt&Jax

                                   We had great fun kayaking along such beautiful coastline. dipping in and out of hidden coves, stopping off for lunch on a secluded beaches, only accessible by Kayaks. It was tough going when the wind got up and made some decent waves to paddle through, and were were very relieved when we made our final stop for the day on Tonga quarry beach, where we would camp for the night.

wine cooling in our 'fridge'

the gang getting ready for dinner

happy b'day Jax
By now, the others had cottoned on to Jax's birthday, and the atmosphere became quite party-like. Darryl set up tables, and cooked a curry and rice, followed by sticky toffee puds, a makeshift birthday cake with candles- and plenty of wine and beer to go around .
it was great camping on the beach, we were all aching and tired from kyaking, slightly tipsy,with full bellies and crashed out in out little tents!                                   

sunrise

 Morning time- and we were greeted by birdsong, and a glorious sunrise. Our shoulders had a good rest, and we ready for the second day. a fantastic breakfast of warm muffins, cereal, fruit and yoghurt and filter coffee set us up for the day. (we still don't know how we managed to bring so much food and drink!)
Today the sea was  forgivingly calm and we spent a lot of time in peaceful lagoons, spotting sea birds, sting ray, fish and seals!
                            
                                                

 My best birthday ever- thanks Matt- xx!

north western coast

we hot footed it up to the Farewell spit. an amazing natural penomena
the spit
and stayed in a very eco friendly lodge (the day time loo was a 'compost toilet' ...you can use your imagination as to what this entails!) the friendly owners gave us some pointers as to what to do and see in out limited time here. high on the list was the baby seals in a rockpool at low tide on the beach. we went to the beautiful and vast Wharaniki beach and found the little darlings. so cute. 3 of them playing in a large rockpool, chasing trapped fish and each other. The parents were basking in the cliffs behind, keeping a watchful eye on them..and us.. that we didnt get too close to their babies!

matty on Wharaniki beach

seals pups @ Wharaniki

practicing being grown up

aw!! cute az

next day was Jax's birthday, and Matt had been noticably evasive as to where and what we were doing the next day. I was told to pack a rucksack and we'd be setting off early next day....

west coast

next stop Punakaiku- famous for its pancacke rocks and blow holes. we stayed in a great lodge in the middle of the jungle, with a little track just 8 mins down to the beach. we stayed for 2 nights and went to watch a lovely sunset on a clear clear sky...and hopefully spot some fairy penguins...well  we managed the sun set..:(

Thar she blows!

  next day we went to see the pancake rocks and blow hole and timed it for high tide. quite impressive! that western sea is wild and mighty!

we didnt see any penguins (except dead ones washed up by the sea- yuk!), but saw lots of seals. there are many colonies dotted around the shore- some with good view points. we didnt realise we would get much closer to them during the rest of the holiday

seal colony

              

south island tour

a week off work, cheap flights and a Tiki-tour planned of the Upper half of the South island.

holiday route

Akaroa- was a volcano

we had just the first nights accommodation booked and then we'd make it up as we go along. we landed in Christchurch and picked up the hire car. we didnt want to linger too long due to the recent Earthquakes, so we zoomed off to the Banks Peninsula, and the French influenced town on Akaroa. we booked into a lovely back packers there called Half moon cottage, but due to the weather taking a turn for the worst and the grim forecast, we decided to only stay the one night and head West, and follow the sunshine.

walked along the rim- partially submerged at high tide.

swirls of Lava

a long but beautifully scenic drive took us along Porters pass and Arthur's pass highway. amazingly there has been the first snowfall the night before and some of the mountains had a light dusting. the locals said this was unusually early for this to happen

Green gryke, with snowy mountains behind

we saw these amazing stone sculptures and had to make a stop- there was also a cache there would you believe! we had fun exploring these amazing vast sculptures

ant people at stones

jax at stones

Next stop was 'Greymouth'. just to prove to Jacqui that its not as grim as its name suggests, andnot always as we had seen it on TV- grey, and rainy. it was a blue zinger sky day and Jacqui had to admit that Greymouth was'OK'

summer down under....

misty crater crossing

jax at Emerald Lakes

.. ia amazing! it lasts forever with a promise of a few more months. gorgeous climate. shorts and tee's are the mandatory wardrobe. the small holiday wardrobe I've had for then last 15 years (which only got an airing about 2 weeks per year in the UK), are wearing out fast!..
so in hot hot January, we've had cyclone threats that only amounted to a few days of heavy tropical rain and winds. in the  middle of Cyclone Vanja, Mat'ts parents arrived. luckily the weather vastly improved when the jet lag wore off! they planned their 7 week vacation on a spread sheet, and we planned to chip in and meet up with them en route.
the highlight of January has to be walking the 'Tongaririo crossing with them;. ( Of Mount Doom fame- from the Lord of the rings film)  (Rated as the best one day trek in New Zealand and listed by many in the top 10 day treks in the world) Many who complete the 18.5 kilometre journey will tell you the climbs can be steep and the  weather can be unpredictable.
the weather turned out beaut, with the odd application of jackets, as we were so high up- it was quite cold and windy in places.

Mount Doom

Emerald lakes from top

scary ridge walk to Summit

descending scree to lakes

the walk took around 7 hours, with a severe climb up, amazing views of the Emerald lakes, and a dodgy slide down the sheer shale drop down!


we were quite stiff for the next couple of days- but was one of the best walks we have done.
see here for more pics ..
Tongaririo photos


January also brought Will, Matts cousin, from Canada. who had a great 2 weeks Tiki-tour around the north island and needs to spend longer on his next vacation!
the summer rolls on and on, and we love going going to deserted beaches at the weekend, chilling and walking etc... we have never been so brown without trying :)

Christmas down under..

 

is very bizzare! despite shopping for xmas cards and gifts, wearing shorts and sunglasses, you will then get a blast of 'let it snow, let it snow' etc... and with all the festive stuff going on everywhere is quite surreal. it just doesn't feel like Christmas at all. we weren't going to bother with a tree or anything, but then i saw these summer themed decorations, so we succumbed!

we were surprised that some of the houses really go to town with xmas lights and decorations outside their houses (like in the UK really!) it does look quite festive, but as its not going dark until 9 O'clock..the effect is lost unless you stay up late :)

so we're not planning on a big chrsitmas dinner- too hot to cook like that!
we plan on walking down to the beach for a champagne picnic, and Jacqui vows to have a swim in the sea, wearing a santa hat! then later in the day, we will be going to our neighbours BBQ, for dinner.
we are looking forward to our first kiwi Christmas, but will be thinking about all our lovely family and friends in the UK. we will say a little toast as we raise our glasses to you...(but you will probably be asleep!)

Click below.....
                                                                                                                                                                                                          
              Merry Christmas Everybody!     

December

welcome party at the ferry?

Billygoat point- Motutapu

having a coffee before the ferry

WoW! we cant believe we have been here 6 months now. time just flies, and getting off that plane onto New Zealand soil seems like only last month. and yet we have done so much since we've been here. December is no exception. the highlight of this month was exploring Motutapu, one of the treasure islands. they're doing a big restoration things there, by re planting native trees, and eradicating foreign weeds and animal pests. then I guess they'll put back some kiwis and other endangered birds. the ferry only goes there twice a month, and only in summer, so we took the chance along with some buddies, to explore and do the 8 geo-caches on the island. there's lots of interesting bunkers, buildings and tunnels left over from WW2, which made a nice dry spot for lunch, as the day we picked, it rained all day. it was still very warm, but we were soaked non the less!

the cache is here somewhere near the bunker

let us out!!

geocachers in da rain