so since i last posted something i was in Motueka. Well a lot has happened since!
I left golden bay, and managed to spend the whole day getting to westport, which is usually a 3 hour drive. I went for nice walks and the whole day was pretty much a driving day, even though i really didnt get any where. I picked up my dear beloved kayak in murchison and left the town for the last time, this time around in NZ. I got to westport late at night and parked out on the beach.
Westport turned out to be quite an interesting time really. I realized the day after, when i was ready to leave the beach, that my car was stuck in the sand dunes. luckily to older gentlemen helped me out and we spent a good hour digging around the car, jacking up the wheels and pulling my car out. When i finally got it out, i managed to get it stuck again, yes i know, driving skills are not the very best in sand.. the story however does not end there, cause i got it stuck a third time, in which one of the older guys just gave up and drove the car out of the beach for me. good start! then i managed to get lost in the little town of westport and spent a good hour trying to find my way out, which i eventually did!
good thing it was a lovely sunny and warm day!
i drove out to cape Foulwind (yes, thats its name!) and had a walk along the cape towards a protected seal colony. It was absolutely beautifull and all the seals had just gotten pups, so it was a perticularly nice sight.
My next stop turned out to be in charleston, where i picked up two hitchikers. Driving in the car by myself got a little bit lonely and i was starting to get tired of talking to myself. Poor guys, i probably talked them silly.. We went to the Pancake rocks again before going straight to Hokitika. Hoki is one of the largest Jade-manufacturers in NZ and is extremely good for kayaking. Its a lovely little town (one of the biggest on the coast actually) right next to the beach and the southern alps, so in other words it has it all!!
I met up with Regan the raft guide and we went to have dinner at Emmersons house (another raft guide)while waiting for all the other raftguides from murchison to show up. I can safely say it was very good talking to people again!
Then yesterday, (this is the exciting bit) we woke up at 6.30 am (early, i know) and jumped in our vans and headed out to the whitcomb gorge for a helirafting trip! the Whitcomb is one of NZ finest rivers and is absolutely beautiful, full of boulders and the water is just glacier melt. its freezing cold, and grade 5 water. We met up with about 23 other raftguides and kayakers from all over NZ and got helicoptered up to the top of the river ( the only other access is walking in), which is about a ten min flight. i got to sit in front! hehehe
After pumping up the rafts and getting all our equipment ready, we were off! we spent 6 hours on the river, which was beyond my wildest dreams! it was absolutely beautiful and man would i like to kayak it!! the river itself runs through spectacular mountain ranges, it was just indescribable.
After the trip we went back to emmersons house, and had a bonfire on the beach. you just have to love it!!!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
roadtrippin
sadly, my adventures in murchison have come to an end and i am now starting a new adventure, by myself. Right, you say, what is she doing now?
well let me tell you! I have rented a car in Nelson (which was cheaper then taking the bus) since i have sold my car (mary) for a ridiculous cheap price, and am currently roadtripping round the south island. I have made no plans what so ever, except for a few people i'm meeting on the way and i am loving it!
saying goodbye to Murch was sad, and as i hate goodbyes, i am pretending i'll see them all again. and you never know, i might see them all again!! The world is not as big as it might seem. yes i know, wise words of the day..
so your probably itching in your seat, wondering what i have done so far, to you i say: WAIT YOUR PATIENCE!
My journey started to nelson at 6.30 tuesday morning where i picked up my lovely white nissan rental car. She is a beauty, and i must say, i would never rent such a flash car to someone like me! it even has manual gearing (which i love), so i am glad to announce that the car and i get along very happily together. We drove off to the wonderful town of Takaka, which is over a very big hill that takes about 30 min to drive to the top of. At the top of these hills there is lots of caves, and i got a guided tour through one of the oldest caves. Its about 3km long and a constant 11 degrees year round and pitch black. They have found lots of bones from the Moa (a very big bird that almost looks like "big bird" on sesame street, and now is extinct) and let me tell you something interesting about the Moa, it had first of all no wings at all and second it ate stones (called gizzard stones) to crush its food in its stomach do to the lack of teeth.
after this interesting tour i kept going to Takaka, which is an awesome hippy-town. Full of organic stores and cafes and lots of atristian clothing stores. There is lots going on in this town at all times, most of it has something to do with art, as a lot of people that live in this area are artists. I stayed here for a while, had some lunch, before leaving towards Collingwood. Collingwood is even smaller than murch, and has nothing but a postshop and a foodstore/ bakery. It does however have a chocolate store, where they only make home made chocolates and everything is like it was back in the 1800's, even the person behind the counter is dressed in old clothes. And oh lordy, they had good chocolate!!!
After eating my chocolate, there wasn't a hole lot to do in collingwood, and so i got back in the car and drove to farewell spit. It is the most northern point of the south island and plays a very big part in the migration of birds and so has a very big wildlife, it is also very common to have whales strand there because of the 27 km long beachline. I went for a two hour walk along the beach, watching the tide go out and the sun set. It is an absolutely beautiful place!
By the time i got back it was dark and so i camped up my car for the night. I must admit the back seat is not that spacious.But it was still a good sleep.
Wednesday morning i woke up to sunshine and the beach. Went for a quick run on the beach before driving back up to the farewell spit lookout for a spectacular view in the early morning. The ocean is a clear blue as far as the eye can see.
I decided to say goodbye to the northern part of the south island and start making my way down. I went to Waikorupupu springs, which is the worlds clearest natural freshwater spring. The only water that is clearer in the world is under the antarctic glaciers. You can see straight to the bottom of the springs everywhere and it looks like blue lagoons, just really pretty.
I also decided to go salmon fishing, yes i miss real fish too much and the urge got the best of me. There is a salmon farm a little ways after Takaka, and they put their "home-grown salmon" in a "home-made-river" for people to fish. You don't pay anything for the fishing, only the fish you catch. I know its quite the scam and wont taste as good as fresh salmon at home, but honestly where in the world does fish taste that good??? i just need fish in my belly!!!
I fished for an hour in the sun, and ended up catching myself a nice 1.1 kg salmon. They filleted it for me for free as well, nice! By the late afternoon i had arrived in Motueka and spent a lot of time finding a good place for the night that was next to the beach. I finally found the place, and spent most of the evening reading and cooking myself a lovely piece of salmon for dinner. It was not as good as the wild salmon, but man it was delicious!!!
I fell asleep with a smile on my face and a full belly. And yes I have figured out my sleeping arrangements, the front seat of the car is much more comfy!!
what will happen next? i don't know! exciting!
well let me tell you! I have rented a car in Nelson (which was cheaper then taking the bus) since i have sold my car (mary) for a ridiculous cheap price, and am currently roadtripping round the south island. I have made no plans what so ever, except for a few people i'm meeting on the way and i am loving it!
saying goodbye to Murch was sad, and as i hate goodbyes, i am pretending i'll see them all again. and you never know, i might see them all again!! The world is not as big as it might seem. yes i know, wise words of the day..
so your probably itching in your seat, wondering what i have done so far, to you i say: WAIT YOUR PATIENCE!
My journey started to nelson at 6.30 tuesday morning where i picked up my lovely white nissan rental car. She is a beauty, and i must say, i would never rent such a flash car to someone like me! it even has manual gearing (which i love), so i am glad to announce that the car and i get along very happily together. We drove off to the wonderful town of Takaka, which is over a very big hill that takes about 30 min to drive to the top of. At the top of these hills there is lots of caves, and i got a guided tour through one of the oldest caves. Its about 3km long and a constant 11 degrees year round and pitch black. They have found lots of bones from the Moa (a very big bird that almost looks like "big bird" on sesame street, and now is extinct) and let me tell you something interesting about the Moa, it had first of all no wings at all and second it ate stones (called gizzard stones) to crush its food in its stomach do to the lack of teeth.
after this interesting tour i kept going to Takaka, which is an awesome hippy-town. Full of organic stores and cafes and lots of atristian clothing stores. There is lots going on in this town at all times, most of it has something to do with art, as a lot of people that live in this area are artists. I stayed here for a while, had some lunch, before leaving towards Collingwood. Collingwood is even smaller than murch, and has nothing but a postshop and a foodstore/ bakery. It does however have a chocolate store, where they only make home made chocolates and everything is like it was back in the 1800's, even the person behind the counter is dressed in old clothes. And oh lordy, they had good chocolate!!!
After eating my chocolate, there wasn't a hole lot to do in collingwood, and so i got back in the car and drove to farewell spit. It is the most northern point of the south island and plays a very big part in the migration of birds and so has a very big wildlife, it is also very common to have whales strand there because of the 27 km long beachline. I went for a two hour walk along the beach, watching the tide go out and the sun set. It is an absolutely beautiful place!
By the time i got back it was dark and so i camped up my car for the night. I must admit the back seat is not that spacious.But it was still a good sleep.
Wednesday morning i woke up to sunshine and the beach. Went for a quick run on the beach before driving back up to the farewell spit lookout for a spectacular view in the early morning. The ocean is a clear blue as far as the eye can see.
I decided to say goodbye to the northern part of the south island and start making my way down. I went to Waikorupupu springs, which is the worlds clearest natural freshwater spring. The only water that is clearer in the world is under the antarctic glaciers. You can see straight to the bottom of the springs everywhere and it looks like blue lagoons, just really pretty.
I also decided to go salmon fishing, yes i miss real fish too much and the urge got the best of me. There is a salmon farm a little ways after Takaka, and they put their "home-grown salmon" in a "home-made-river" for people to fish. You don't pay anything for the fishing, only the fish you catch. I know its quite the scam and wont taste as good as fresh salmon at home, but honestly where in the world does fish taste that good??? i just need fish in my belly!!!
I fished for an hour in the sun, and ended up catching myself a nice 1.1 kg salmon. They filleted it for me for free as well, nice! By the late afternoon i had arrived in Motueka and spent a lot of time finding a good place for the night that was next to the beach. I finally found the place, and spent most of the evening reading and cooking myself a lovely piece of salmon for dinner. It was not as good as the wild salmon, but man it was delicious!!!
I fell asleep with a smile on my face and a full belly. And yes I have figured out my sleeping arrangements, the front seat of the car is much more comfy!!
what will happen next? i don't know! exciting!
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