Abel Tasman- Day 1

Day 18- February 23rd

After packing up, we left on the trail at noon. It took us four and a half hours to get there, and we were very tired. After the hike, we weren’t feeling like we had packed very light, but it was hard to think what we could have left out. In my pack, I had a ~3 sleeping bag, a 3 pound stove and cook pot set, a lightweight sleeping pad two jackets and a bag of clothes, a sunhat, some snacks, the instant drinks, our bottle of denatured alcohol for our stove (one litre), and a pair of Tevas for wading across some of the bays. If I could have I would have brought less clothes, but my mom made me bring two shirts, an extra pair of pants, and four pairs of underwear.

At around 5 we got to our campground at Watering Cove. To stay at any campground you had to have a reservation. My mom had booked our campgrounds back in December. None of the campgrounds had caretakers (besides Totaranui, which was connected to a road), so this was how you paid. A few rangers would patrol random campgrounds, and if you were found without a reservation you would be fined heavily.

There was only one or couple at our beach, and it was very quiet and peaceful. We played in the water and the stream for a while, then set up our tents. I had a small backpacker’s tent and my parents and sister had a bigger three-person tent. They had been planning to bring a 2 pound tent, but decided on their bigger, 7 pound tent, which was better if it rained. We had a small dinner of cheese and dry salami and went to bed.

Dolphins

Day 17- February 22nd

My dad, sister, and I got in the car at five the next morning and drove to the Dolphin Encounters office. We watched a safety video, and then were loaded in a bus to the dock. Almost everyone else was going to be swimming with the dolphins, so they were wearing wetsuits and snorkels. Last time I was here, in 1998, my mom had gone swimming while my dad and I stayed on the boat. She remembers that, although she got to see dolphins up close, it was hard to swim in the open ocean. It was also a lot more expensive to swim, so she had decided not to pay for us to go. Since we couldn’t change our minds after we were on the boat, she thought we should see what it was like and if we really wanted to swim, we could come back as adults (and pay for it ourselves, of course).

A beautiful sunrise

So we got to sit on the boat and watch everyone else swim. The boat traveled out for 15 minutes, looking for dolphins in various sites. The ocean waves were huge, so the ride was bumpy and fun. When we found the dolphins, the swimmers all got in the water and my family, and one or two other people, stayed onboard. The amount of dolphins was amazing, and it looked like the swimmers were seeing a lot. But it was also very choppy, and I think that it would have been hard work if I had been swimming.

We picked up the swimmers again and went to another spot, and I got lots of pictures. We picked the swimmers up again, and then went on a “photo tour”. They let people up to the front of the boat, were dolphins were surfing right under the bow on a pressure wave created by the boat.

After the tour was over, we packed our car and drove across the island to Marahau. On the way we heard on the radio about the Christchurch earthquake. It was amazing to hear about, since we had been there just two days before the earthquake. We stopped in Nelson and got a bottle of denatured alcohol for our alcohol stove.

In Marahau, we stayed at a campground (or holiday park, as they call them here.) It has camping spot, as well as some cabins, pre-setup tents, and a backpacker’s hostel. The last time we were here, we stayed in an old camper, and the time before that in a tipi. They didn’t have these anymore, so we just camped.

Tomorrow we would be leaving on our five day, four night backpacking trip through Abel Tasman National Park, so we had a lot of packing to do.

Kaikoura

Day 16- February 21st

After drying all of our stuff out, we drove on to Kaikoura. When we first got there it was boiling hot and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It certainly didn’t look very fun to spend a day in. We had a picnic lunch in the park, under one of the few trees, and then checked into our room at the Pacific Palms. It was very nice, and probably the most luxurious place we would stay on the trip. It even had a private bathroom. I the beach was right next to the road, and a sort of flat rocky place extending way out into the ocean. You could see the huge waves of the open ocean crashing off at the end. The tide came in quickly, so we hiked up the hill next to it.

We hiked along the top of the cliffs for a while. It was mostly green pasture, and might have been used for grazing sheep before. The hills and the beach below were very beautiful and sunny. It didn’t look quite so hot and forbidding as it had earlier in the day.

After a while we hiked back down to the beach. While my family went swimming, I climbed up a rock hill and took a panorama. It was starting to get dark, so we went back home and went to bed early. Our dolphin tour in the morning started at 5:20, so we had to get up at five.

Day 15

Okay, I am finally updating my blog after a week and a half. I will be posting a lot at once, so make sure to read back so you don't miss anything.

Day 14-February 19th

Today we got up early to go kayaking. It was windy out, so we thought we might not go, but the owner said we could. A bunch of track walkers also came. These were people walking along a 3-4 day hike, known as the Banks Peninsula track. Each day they pass from one farm to another, and spend each night on a different person’s farm. The farm owners also transport their luggage for them.

Along the beach and path we saw a four or five dead penguins. The owners had said that food was scarce this year, but I hadn’t realized what a big effect it was having. One penguin appeared to have been walking up the road towards are camping, but couldn’t get through the gate and had died there.

My dad and sister decided not to go, so my mom and I shared a kayak. We went out along the cliffs and saw some penguins and seals. The waves were pretty big, so my mom was a bit worried. In Alaska, the water is much colder and falling out of the boat is a big deal, since you can die in only five or ten minutes from cold. We also usually kayak in a canvas kayak, so we have to be careful about rocks. Today we were in plastic boats, so we didn’t need to worry nearly as much. On the way back we kayaked into a cave a little ways and got to see the big waves fill up the cave.

Later we went on a short hike with my dad and sister. On the way back, we saw a man herding sheep with two sheep dogs. It was amazing how well the dogs worked together to herd the sheep. We climbed up on a hill on the side of the road to watch the sheep pass. My mom and I climbed up a small ridge further up the hill and found a gate. We didn’t have much else to do, so we went through and further up. We felt sort of like we weren’t supposed to go up here, but the owners hadn’t said anything so we weren’t sure. We got a ways of the ridge and I got some good pictures.

Later my dad and sister and I went on another short hike, and I took lots of small movie clips of the scenery. I am hoping to make a small movie when I get back.

Day 15- February 20th

We drove back into Christchurch and went to an Arts and Crafts fair. Then we successfully returned our rental car and got one that wasn’t moldy. We did a bunch of shopping, and then drove to our campground for the night in Buxton. We set up our tents, and then cooked dinner in the kitchen facilities at the campground. One of the nice things about campgrounds in New Zealand is that almost all of them have a kitchen of some sort, showers, and playgrounds.

After dinner I walked out on the beach. It was really windy out, so there were huge waves. I took a lot of pictures, but none of them turned out very well.