Surfing in Raglan

We've enjoyed 3 days in the chilled out surf town of Raglan, which is a bit like Rhosneigr on Anglesey which is dotted with trendy surf shops and cafes, only with Raglan it has internationally recognised surf (best left hand break in the World, apparently) nice warm beaches, with black volcanic sand.

The plan had only been to spend one night and a day in the area, but three days later we we're still in town slipping in to "surf time". We hung out at the local cafes, ate the best scrambled eggs at "the shack", watched the rad surfers at Manu Bay then attempted to surf ourselves at Ngarunui Beach.

As we we're staying at the campsite at the home of the local surf school, we booked ourselves in to a lesson and got lucky with a private lesson for just the two of  us.   After learning the basics indoors, it was time to put on the wetsuits and hit the beach.

 I was feeling apprehensive about heading in to the waves, despite being taught a simple 4 step process to standing up I seem to lack the simple function of remembering simple sequences!  Rob however had it mastered and as soon as the first wave was behind him, he was standing up and surfing right away.  It took me a few attempts, but after comparing the moves to yoga - think cobra, then warrior, I caught my first wave and surfed to the shore.   Catching that first wave, standing up and gliding towards the beach is the best feeling in the world.   Forget bungee jumping or jet boat trips if you're in NZ...surfing is where it's at!

New Plymouth to Waitomo

It was long 400km drive to Taranaki, travelling through suburban towns and villages from Wellington to Stratford, the closest town to the heart of Tarankai National Park (and a weird glockenspiel)

After being bombarded with information from the very knowledgable, but annoyingly talkative lady, we realised the forecast wasn't in our favour to appreciate any views from or around Taranaki, let alone hike to the 2518m summit,  so we decided to head up towards New Plymouth.

The city of New Plymouth took us  both by surprise with it's fancy architecture, great coastal views and even treated us to some sunshine.  We took a walk along the coastal path to a nice restaurant - Bach on Breakwater - enjoyed a delicious dinner and watched the sunset from our campsite overlooking the beach.

The followed day Mount Taranaki popped out her snowcapped crater from above the clouds whilst we we're eating breakfast, but it wasn't enough for us to tempt us from a day exploring the caves at Waitomo.   We set off on our way, heading further up North, driving through the lush green pastures and volcanic hills, stopping at PioPio for lunch - a cute little town and filming location for Lord of the Rings.   After arriving in Waitomo, we enjoyed a fun afternoon in the Waitomo caves, jumping in to waterfalls, floating in total darkness and learning that the beautiful glow worms that lit some of the dark caves is nothing more than shiny maggot poo!

Kayaking adventures in Abel Tasman

It really is the life of extremes in  New Zealand! Within a 2 hours drive of Nelson lakes after our hike to the Angelus Hut and spending two days up to knees in snow, we now find ourselves wearing shorts and t shirt and slapping on the factor 30 suncream!

It was great to be back in Abel Tasman and we got in to the holiday mode, sipping beers on the deck of the local bar having booked our 2 day Kayak trip.  This would be our last stop in the South Island before we got back on the Interislander and meandered our way North before our flight home from Auckland.

We took at water taxi from Kaiteriteri further up the coast where we were launched on to a beach with our Kayaks. After a safety briefing, we set off and paddled along the coast lines, getting swept up in to remote lagoons and having the lovely company of baby seal pups swimming alongside us.

We stopped along the way at remote sandy islands, enjoying a picnic lunch with the rest of our group, before being left behind at Anchorage bay where Rob and I would spend the night aboard the floating "aqua packers"

We left our kayaks on the beach and played with some baby ducklings whilst we waited for a lift to our floating hotel for the night.

Whilst we were there we bumped in to Casey from Cardrona who was casually walking across the beach! The last time we saw him was on the west coast when the van broke down!

We had a great night with our host Chris who ran the aqua packers, along with Andrea who was a German Graphic Designer and had just spent 4 months in Bali.

It was a perfect end to our time in the South Island, sipping red wine, sharing stories, watching the stars on the deck of the boat.

Robert Ridge & The Angelus Hut, Nelson Lakes

 What an adventure it was to the remote Angelus Hut,  a mountain cabin that is perched high on the mountain range between lakes Roititi and Lake Rotorua.

We set off on a blue sky sunny day, bags packed with ice axes and crampons and not a glimpse of snow in sight. But with a 12.5km hike ahead, ascending up to 1650m and having seen a guy walk down in ski boots, we knew that what lay ahead of us would be very different to the summer scene at the car park.

Each bend in the ridge offered us a breathtaking view, along with it's own challenges including crossing steep scree fields filled with snow, soft slush, post holes, exposed ridge lines and icy patches.  As we ventured further and further towards our destination, we drunk in the total remoteness of where we were.  There was no phone signal, no-one else up on the mountain range and should have anything of happened, the best chance of us being rescued would have been by helicopter.

After a long 6 hours of carrying our packs full of water, food and warmth for the night, our last ridge afforded us views of a long frozen lakes, where, at the end, the Angelus Hut was perched with it's sweeping balcony and views across the lake and mountains.

We had the place to ourselves, along with a stack of logs and enjoyed the late afternoon sunshine drying out our wet socks, cooking dinner and setting up our beds next to the fire, with views out to the panoramic windows and a planetarium view of the stars.

The following day, we took an easier decent route down the Speargrass route, and nearly came head to head with a shotgun. Luckily the hunter was out to catch Chamois and not travellers, we then later came across a guy tracking the rare Kiwi bird!

Our Tranz Alpine rail journey

We had great weather for our Tranz Alpine train journey and enjoyed some spectacular scenery.  Leaving the coast with the Tasman sea we travelled through the Grey river valley, surrounded by the podocarp forest and passing beside the pretty lake Brunner.  

We gained 737m of elevation travelling upwards through the mountains to our highest point at Arthurs Pass, enjoying great views of the mountains and forests along the way.   As we decended from the pass we crossed a labyrinth of gorges over a high viaducts and decended from the foothills of the Alps in to the Canturbury Plains. The whole journey was like travelling in our own documentary, as we listened to the on-board commentary with lots of geolocial and sociological facts.  It was a great way to see the huge range of mountains from coast to coast, from the comfort of the train.  

Once we arrived in Christchurch we headed out to meet some of our friends from Cardrona who were also in town for a couple of days before carrying on their own adventures.  

We finished the evening with cocktails and mexican Mexicano's and a good nights sleep in jail, before taking our return trip back to the West Coast the following morning.

The West Coast

So we left Wanaka for good this morning which left a big lump in my throat and big fat tears rolling down my cheeks.  Whilst we've been looking forward to travelling again, it's still hard saying goodbye to somewhere we've called home and friends that have felt like family.

Within an hour we had reached the Haast Past, which took us over the Southern Alps and towards the Coast.  The road wound itself through a lucious rainforest which had every shade of green you could imagine.  The recent rainfall had created some spectacular waterfalls and there were wisps of clouds hugging the tops of the valley, creating a very atmospehric view.   Arriving in Haast,  we stopped off for lunch and decided to try out the local delicacy - White Bait. 

We had no idea what a white bait was, but keen to try the local fayre I ordered anyway.  I later read that you eat the entire fish including head, fins, bones, and guts. I didn't know this when the waiter served us what looked like two omelette's on a piece of brown bread with a side of lemon.  Had I known I was about to eat an eggy fish, i probably would have ordered a toasty! Not the best food we've had - but we will remember it as the most expensive and least satisfying lunch we've had to date! 

Onwards we drove towards Fox glacier, stopping off on the way at Knights Point and Munro Beach.  It was so nice to smell the salty sea air once again and see the ocean.   The walk to Munro was a real treat through another rain forest, it smelt so fresh after the recent rain and we popped out from the canopy of the trees to a beautiful windswept beach, which is one of many homes for the Fiordland Crested Penguins. We were lucky enough to see one on the beach, which is the third time in New Zealand we have seen penguins in the wild. 

As we arrived at Fox Glacier the clouds lifted long enough for us to gasp at the towering snow capped Alps which was just spectacular to have the ocean to our left and dense rain forest with glaciated high mountains peaks  towering above the bush line to our right.    

After dinner in Fox, we spotted Gaby our Italian friend who we worked with at Cardrona and took a twilight walk through the trees and spot glow worms.  We didn't have to go too far, before we saw the glow worms illuminating the trees like fairy lights. 

We camped out under the stars at Gillespie's beach and fell asleep as a Lunar Eclipse illuminated the moon a bright red.   

Rob Roy Glacier, Matukutiki Valley

On our last day full day in Wanaka we we're treated to a day filled with sunshine, beautiful walks and delicious ice cream.

We took a trip out to Rob Roy Glacier, which involves crossing 7 fords and driving 30km down a gravel track to reach.   The Matukituki valley road follows huge glaciated plaines with deer, cattle and sheep grazing on the vast land, surrounded by alpine bush and snow capped peaks,   It really is like a scene from a postcard that depicts the real New Zealand. 

The walk to the glacier follows a narrow track beside a gorge with crystal clear water, whilst up ahead a huge white bright glacier dominates the head of the valley.  Just before sitting down to eat our lunch, we heard a loud noise and looked up to see a huge pile of ice fall off the edge of the glacier, which looked like a huge waterfall cascading off the side of the cliff edge. 

Walking back down the valley after lunch, we stopped to fill up our water bottle with ice cold glaciated water and enjoyed listening to the Tui's and Bell Birds singing in the trees.

Returning back to town, we stopped off at Relishes Cafe to tick off the last cafe in our coffee shop tour of the town.  Since arriving in Wanaka we have attempted to visit all the coffee shops, bars and eateries in town. So when we've not been skiing or had a "close day", we've mainly been eating and drinking our way around town!   It has added a few pounds to my waistline and made  a dint in the bank account, but has been great fun to explore all the new places.

Queenstown

After a couple of days in the wildnerness, we went to enjoy some action packed days in the adrenaline fuelled town of Queenstown.  We picked up a hitchhiker,  watched people jumping of ledges with elastic tied to their feet, I went flying down a gorge on a jet boat, Rob went to fly off a mountain with a paraglider (but ironically there was too much wind for that), we ate huge burgers, drank cocktails out of tea pots, took the gondola to the top of the mountain, went on a ski lift in a blizzard (and no jacket!), raced each other on the Luge and got free entry for an international ski film premier.

The following day we ate delicious french food in the pretty village of Arrowtown and watched people panning for gold, before heading back to Wanaka for our final few days of BBQ's and farewell parties.