Day 211- We arrived at midnight but it wasn't too hard to find our cheap campsite in the dark. It also wasnt too hard to fall asleep. We were spent.
We always enjoy seeing where we are when the sun rises in the morning, especially in New Zealand. And, as usual, it was a beautiful scene overlooking a peaceful lake with a mountain snuggled in behind us.
Space, or the lack there of, has been a big part of our travels thus far and Mike and I have managed to cope quite well in our close quarters...most of the time...
We left the campsite pretty early in the morning so Mike could chat with Fabian in regards to the DFFL. After their high level super important commissioner duties were taken care of, we drove direct to the Abel Tasman. There wasn't enough time left in the day to hit any of the sights, so we found a great little campsite on a private farm for $10 each that included a hot shower and free laundry. After we put a load of laundry into the machine we got our sweat on and completed a Gorilla Workout to some intense music. Gorilla Workouts is an app that Mike found that has body weight workouts that you can do anywhere. Mike really likes it.
After all of our nightly duties were complete, we snuggled in to continue watching Lord of the Rings. Crazy how many sessions it has taken us to get through the first two movies.... I enjoy them a lot but they are just so darn long.
Day 212- The Abel Tasman is a national park with brilliant golden beaches, forest, granite cliffs and days worth of continual coastal hiking trails. There is one hike that has you stay in huts along the way for 3 nights that we were super interested in. Unfortunately, Mike and I didn't have the time to do any big hikes, so we opted for an 8km one day version that went along the same trail instead.
The hike had constant views of the shoreline and many natural green archways to guide us.
The more we walked the more disappointed we got that we weren't doing the full hike. Vistas like the one below were waiting for us around every corner.
It was a hot day and walking only made us hotter, so we couldn't help but to go for a dip when we arrived at one of the famous golden beaches. And the sand was just that, golden, it was yellow, rich and luxurious.
We had no time to waste so we got back on the road to find a place to call home for the night. Roads cut through the forest and mountainside creating a path from one destination to another. I should mention that for the most part, Mike and I have had the flexibility to change our schedule along the way. However, one deadline that we did have was the flight out of New Zealand, only TEN DAYS AWAYYYY!!! Barely enough time so see the south island.
Day 213- We had one main goal for the day. Find a place to watch the superbowl. We didn't want the whole day to be committed to the game so we made a stop in the town of Punakaiki first to see the pancake rocks and blow holes.
Below, the rocks behind me look like they have faces. Quit looking at me SWAN!
Punakaiki also has some powerful blowholes that had the attention of a bunch of tourists. The scale is somewhat lost in the photo but I can assure you, the sea was angry!
On our way out of the parking lot we saw a scary looking hitch hiker holding a sign that said Greymouth, our destination for the game. We pulled over to pick him up, against our better judgement. I hope he doesn't steal us! Below is a picture, or should I say mugshot, of our new travel companion.
Note the evil grin and menacing eyes that pierce out from his hulking frame! Lucky to get out alive on this one... Haha truth is, he's a great kid fresh out of high school who is touring around New Zealand in the footsteps of his older bother. We were happy to aid him on his way and dropped him off at the local hostel before we found a pub on the edge of town to watch the Superbowl. It was no surprise that two retired american couples were also there to watch the big game. It was nice to have some fellow North Americans to enjoy the game with and talk a little NFL.
After a less than exciting game of football, we drove to a nearby lake with a beautiful campsite setting.
I took this opportunity to sew the newly earned flag patches onto our backpacks.
The sun set behind us and lit the sky up with purples, blues and pinks.
Day 214- I woke up early to catch the sun rising above the lake. The many clouds kept the sun hidden but the view and lighting was still quite spectacular.
On our way to the Franz Josef glacier we found ourselves in a standoff with some big healthy creatures.
We arrived in the town of Franz Josef in the afternoon and wasted no time starting a 90 minute hike along the river towards the base of the glacier.
Water flowed down the sides of the mountain, eroding little pathways through the rock on its quest to meet up with the river.
Below, the water coming off of the glacier camouflaged in with the rocky river bed and wore a cold grey suit.
The glacier has receded a lot over the years. It used to reach down to the base of the photo below but after changes in the atmosphere and warmer temperatures, it slowly creeps further and further away.
After the hike we hit the road to find a place to rest for the night. The setting sun cast its rays across the valley to turn the once green landscape into a viberant orange backdrop for our drive.
We spent the night in the small town of Haast at a caravan park and enjoyed some fast wifi and hot showers.
Day 215- Our mission was to get as close to the Milford Sound National park as possible, which meant our day was blessed with one incredible sight after another on the long drive through the mountains.
We stopped at a couple of waterfalls along the way to contribute, once again, to the inukshuk villages found at their base.
We pulled over at the blue pools to see the naturally captivating turquoise water. That's Mike over on the other side.
The next view really did take my breath away. The crazy thing is the fact that this view continued along the highway for hours, from one lake to the next.
We took a hacky sack break at the spot below and watched some planes fly through the mountain valley, into the City of Queenstown. The giant planes would come right down below the mountain tops to land but I couldn't get a photo that did it justice.
Mountains, mountains and more mountains.
As I said, the view continued along the highway for hours.
It just didn't get old. It doesn't. It hasn't. That's me, breathing in life.
We finally parked the car for the night at a small campsite, only an hour from Milford Sound. We enjoyed the beautiful outdoors, worked out and watched these little white flowers blow in the wind.
We were also determined to get our steps in for the day (10,000 a day) so we walked the highway until our Fitbit's vibrated with success. Mike said he looked like Goatman in this photo. I don't know who that is.
Next stop, the 8th natural wonder of the world.....yes I know what you're thinking... an 8th wonder?! How could there be an 8th wonder?! Good question. I would answer your question with a question of my own; how does James Bond not get hit by a single bullet from multiple bad guys shooting at him with sub-machine guns?... Some things we just accept.
