We stopped at the Pancake Rocks. They are limestone that squished a long time ago into skinny layers. Now that they're above the sea floor and some erosion has occurred, they basically look like pancakes stacked on top of each other. Near there was also a cavern. We walked in there and checked it out some. It didn't go in very far, but enough that we did need the flashlights that we brought. When we got back to the car, we saw a flightless rail walking around the cars, checking the grill for bugs!
In one town we passed through, we found an Indian restaurant open. We found out that if we ate in, it would cost an extra $4... A lot of restaurants here are 'takeaway'. We're thinking that eating in must be taxed more heavily? Not really sure. The tax is always included in purchases. So, we decided to try Indian takeaway. We got the rice, a sauce and an order of papadum. They came in a couple little tupperwares! Now we have some nice tupperwares if we need more.
We were aiming for a DOC site for the night, but it was already dark and we weren't sure how far off the highway it was. We finally got there and had a heck of a time finding a place to park since it had been raining most of the day. The grass was sopping. We eventually found a spot that worked.
This morning, we watched a couple more of those rails run around the campground. There were even 3 chicks that were fun to watch. We did go on one hike even though it was raining, then we headed off down the road. It has been between raining and pouring all day so far. The weather forecast claims it's not supposed to rain tomorrow. Since we're almost to the glaciers, hopefully that's true. We both really want to check those out, but if it's raining or too wet, then we won't be able to.
-Miranda
The neat erosion on the rocks from the previous entry.
Pancake Rocks!
;)
The rail. Second one is it checking the car's grill for bugs. (Click photo for larger view.)
A horse poo for sale sign! Bags of horse poo were sitting below the sign. This is not the first sign like this we've seen. This one was just the cutest.
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After the library, we headed towards a campground in Totaranui. It's huge! It can fit 850 campers, or so the DOC book claims. We had a relaxing evening and decided to do a section of the Abel Tasman coastal hike the next morning. One option was the whole loop, which would have been around 20k, part of it going up to around 450 meters. Otherwise, we could hitchhike to the start and hike back to the campground.
We found a ride pretty quickly, so we started hiking. It was a bit more up and down than I was expecting, but it was still a very nice hike. Most of it was in the forest and it had some great views of the coast and some beaches. We made the hike in 4 hours. It was around 13k total.
From there we headed back into Takaka to use the library's internet for an hour. Our goal from there was to maybe get to a free DOC site, but it was looking a little far and we were due for a shower, so we stopped in Motueka at a holiday park and are staying here for the night. It's super packed because the fruit pickers of the season are here, but a shower is definitely nice.
-Miranda
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We headed back north, aiming for Abel Tasman National Park. Yesterday we drove within 35km of Takaka, down a narrow, gravel road. It was 11km long, but not too bad of a drive. A cheap campground was at the end. We went for a short walk to Harwood's Hole, which is the deepest hole in New Zealand. 175 meters down. There isn't much to the cave down there though, from the sound of it.
From there, we headed up to a view point that was gorgeous. The rocks were weathered from the rain, which looked very neat. I didn't get any photos of the view, because the sun was coming right from that direction, so it wouldn't have shown anything anyway.
That night was super cold. Joe even broke out the second sleeping bag to put on top of us. After breakfast, we headed to Takaka and have been using the free internet at the library. Unfortunately, we only get an hour, and we've already exceeded that, so, off we go!
-Miranda
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We drove south of Picton for one reason only. To go whale watching. Off of Kaikoura is the main place to see Sperm Whales. There is a deep canyon (about 1000 meters deep) where they dive to feed. We headed out and they spotted a whale pretty quickly. The whale we saw, we ended up seeing him 3 times, was named Tiaki. They sit at the surface for 5-10 minutes, filling up on oxygen, then dive for, normally 45-50 minutes to feed.
After seeing him a couple times, we went over to check out the Dusky Dolphins. They were very fun to watch. They're pods are typically around 100-500 dolphins. We watched them for quite a while before heading towards some rocks where Fur Seals were hanging out. We watched some seal pups for a bit, then headed back out towards the canyon and got another view of Tiaki before he dove again.
We're back at the free spot just 28km from Kaikoura for the night since we're both tired and don't really feel like driving.
-Miranda
Tiaki's tail.
A Dusky Dolphin.
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We sat in Wellington for a couple nights. They have the 3rd largest bell-tower-organ-type thing in the world we were pied-pipered to it without knowing what it was. Someone can play all the various 77 bells with a keyboard. (biggest was several tonnes) Stayed in the van parked behind a hostel for $30/night... The hostel was crazy, 50+ rooms in this smallish old home. staggard floors and second story walkways, hidden bathrooms. . . crazy. We had an amazing Morrocan
fancy dinner (Who knew apricots, figs, prunes, onions, carrots,rice
and sauces went well together...)
We took the Ferry from north Island to south island for $200. Not
cheap, but it's a 3 hour tour. Picturesque views of the sound for
the last hour of travel.
-Joe
The ferry.
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