Auckland
Only one day left in 2017 and we can only imagine what 2018 has in store for us. There is so much to be thankful for as our family is healthy and happy and we were lucky enough to see many parts of the world. Cheers to 2017!
As for the past week and a half we have been making our way up the south island. Our activities have included LOTS of hiking and walk abouts in the wilderness. We have seen some pretty spectacular views from Milford Sound, glaciers, volcanoes, hot springs, grand mountains, waterfalls. You name it New Zealand has it.
Hikes/Bush walks thus far include:
Lake Monowai
Mt. Burns
Humboldt Falls
Chasm Falls
Gertrude Saddle
Mirror Lakes
Blue Pools Mt. Aspiring National Park
Continental Divide
Keystone Summit
Fox Glacier
Franz Josef Glacier
Dolomite/Pancake Rocks
Okarito View Point
Tongariro Alpine Crossing - South Crater
Phew.. I think that is all of them. We were lucky enough to have sunny and rainy days, which was a must since Jesse seems adamant to hike as much as possible.
One of the most memorable views were the Glacier walks. With about an hour to an hour and a half walk you could see the Glaciers from a far. When driving in you could see where the glaciers were only a hundred years ago and it was quite scary to see how much they had diminished from 100 years ago to 30 years ago to where they are now. Carbon foot print people.
Christmas eve and Christmas day was spent at the town of Motuketa. It was a lovely spot on the northwest coast next to two national parks. We had a Christmas eve lunch date at a winery, then Christmas day on the beach with the locals in Abel Tasman National park.
We headed up to Picton where we took the ferry from south to north island. Make sure to bring your Dramamine for that one. Although the ferry is very nice it was a bit bumpy and the ice chips and vomit bags they were passing around didn't seem to make others feel better.
Rotorua was our next big stop. You can see quite a bit of culture here and there is a LOT to do. Although we were only here for one day I would highly recommend it for people that are touring. You can do outdoor activities, cultural experiences here and relax in the thermal pools!
The activities that we did were of course a water fall that include a 7 meter drop. Our raft included Jesse, myself, a Swiss couple that spoke little English and proceeded to paddle backwards for forwards and forwards for backwards and an Indian couple that felt paddling was optional and it was more important to get the best photo shot. Needless to say it did not reassure me as we gazed over what was to be our death.
Libby is back right and Jesse is front right.
We're in there somewhere..
The next adventure was more of my choice did not include jumping off large cliffs or drowning in a river, but a cultural experience at the only living Whakarewarewa Maori Village. The Hakka dance was preformed, which is what you will see before an All Blacks Rugby game and we were able to walk around the village where 21 families still live and learn about their culture.
The following day was spent in the glow worms gave in Waitomo. We propelled 65 meters down a cave where we saw little glow worms shining bright above us. By the end of the day we were professional Spelunkers.
Happy New Year!
As for the past week and a half we have been making our way up the south island. Our activities have included LOTS of hiking and walk abouts in the wilderness. We have seen some pretty spectacular views from Milford Sound, glaciers, volcanoes, hot springs, grand mountains, waterfalls. You name it New Zealand has it.
Hikes/Bush walks thus far include:
Lake Monowai
Mt. Burns
Humboldt Falls
Chasm Falls
Gertrude Saddle
Mirror Lakes
Blue Pools Mt. Aspiring National Park
Continental Divide
Keystone Summit
Fox Glacier
Franz Josef Glacier
Dolomite/Pancake Rocks
Okarito View Point
Tongariro Alpine Crossing - South Crater
Phew.. I think that is all of them. We were lucky enough to have sunny and rainy days, which was a must since Jesse seems adamant to hike as much as possible.
Christmas eve and Christmas day was spent at the town of Motuketa. It was a lovely spot on the northwest coast next to two national parks. We had a Christmas eve lunch date at a winery, then Christmas day on the beach with the locals in Abel Tasman National park.
We headed up to Picton where we took the ferry from south to north island. Make sure to bring your Dramamine for that one. Although the ferry is very nice it was a bit bumpy and the ice chips and vomit bags they were passing around didn't seem to make others feel better.
Rotorua was our next big stop. You can see quite a bit of culture here and there is a LOT to do. Although we were only here for one day I would highly recommend it for people that are touring. You can do outdoor activities, cultural experiences here and relax in the thermal pools!
The activities that we did were of course a water fall that include a 7 meter drop. Our raft included Jesse, myself, a Swiss couple that spoke little English and proceeded to paddle backwards for forwards and forwards for backwards and an Indian couple that felt paddling was optional and it was more important to get the best photo shot. Needless to say it did not reassure me as we gazed over what was to be our death.
Libby is back right and Jesse is front right.
We're in there somewhere..
With a 50% chance of flipping Jesse was cheering that we had made it...not realizing our pour Swedish friend had fallen out.
The next adventure was more of my choice did not include jumping off large cliffs or drowning in a river, but a cultural experience at the only living Whakarewarewa Maori Village. The Hakka dance was preformed, which is what you will see before an All Blacks Rugby game and we were able to walk around the village where 21 families still live and learn about their culture.
The following day was spent in the glow worms gave in Waitomo. We propelled 65 meters down a cave where we saw little glow worms shining bright above us. By the end of the day we were professional Spelunkers.
Comments
Post a Comment