The West Coast of the Southern Alps

Departing Nelson (A), we travelled 426 miles down the West Coast, spending 2 nights in Franz Josef Glacier (E), before finally crossing the Southern Alps via Haast Pass (F).

First view of the West Coast south of Westport

Pancake Rocks (B)

Pancake Rocks is an unusual geological phenomenon that geologists cannot explain

We were all excited to get out of the car and stretch our legs
We even ate pancakes at the restaurant by Pancake rocks!

Now here's a road sign we've never seen in South Dakota!

The rocks at "Twelve Mile Beach"

Greymouth ( C )

Cris nearly accepted a position at this clinic in Greymouth…
I think he made the right decision

South of Greymouth, we crossed this one-lane bridge shared by cars & trains!

Hokitika (D)

I wanted to stop and see Hokitika as it is the setting for the 2013 Man Booker Prize winning novel The Luminaries which I read when we first arrived in New Zealand.  It was great to see some of the sites of the book in real life.  The area is also well known for it's pounamu (jade) and we stopped in a few studios to see it being carved and sold.

The Hokitika River

Approaching the rain forests of the 'Misty Mountains'

View of Franz Josef Glacier (E)

Franz Josef Glacier

Monsoon Restaurant at the Rainforest Retreat

New Year's Eve 2013!

Ben just had to see this Kiwi sanctuary & Glacier exhibit 

Annual rainfall in Franz Josef shown on the left!

The boys saw 3 rescued Rowi Kiwi, but photos were not permitted in the habitat

The Haast River at Haast Pass (F)

This stretch of Haast Pass has recently experienced a massive slide.  It is closed every night and can close unexpectedly if there is heavy rain.  They keep equipment on site (this is a very remote location) to move large boulders that land on the road.  It was a stressful crossing of Haast Pass…  And one we were glad to have behind us!

Nelson/Abel Tasman

From our ferry arrival in Picton (A) we drove on to Nelson (B) which was to be our home base for the next two days.

Ben informed us that Nelson is the geographical centre of New Zealand.  So we hiked up a huge hill to see that landmark!

View of Nelson from the Centre of New Zealand

Another attraction in Nelson was Jens Hansen - the Ringmaker.  He was the designer and maker of the ring used in the Lord of the Rings movies.  He has since passed on and his son, Halfdan, made the ring for the Hobbit movies.  As luck would have it, when Cris and Ben visited the store to see the original ring used in the movies, Halfdan was there and they were able to meet and visit with him a bit.

Where's Ben?

They used this huge version to film the scene where the ring falls into the snow

We drove through the vineyards over to Kaiteriteri  ( C ) and boarded a water taxi to Abel Tasman National Park, as there are no roads into this area of New Zealand.  Entrance is only gained from the water.

The taxi dropped us off at Anchorage Bay

We enjoyed a bit of time on the beach

                                               

We decided to hike up to Pitt Head for a view of Anchorage Bay

                                                 

What a view it was!

Split Apple Rock

Seals on Adele Island

                                   

The best fresh fruit ice cream we had on the South Island
At T.O.A.D. Hall in Motueka

Nelson, and the whole South Island, provided us with some of the best food we've found in New Zealand. To be honest, the food down here is not great (with the exception of ice cream!).  It's fine, but it's certainly nothing special.  However, in Nelson we found not one, but two great pizza places.  The first night we ate at The Hot Rock which had amazing wood-fired oven pizza.  The second night we ate at The Pizza Bar which had awesome pizza and pasta, too.  We were all so happy to have good pizza!  Cris is reminding me that we have had good pizza on the North Island (The Pizza Library Company in Rotorua and Mint here in Wanganui) but good pizza is just few and far between in New Zealand.  All fueled up and ready to go - on to our next destination - the wild West Coast of the Southern Alps!

South Island Adventure Begins...

We're just back from a two-week holiday to the South Island of New Zealand.  We began our vacation with a trip down the road to Wellington with Tim and Sharryn where we explored around a little bit and had a nice farewell dinner to celebrate the end of their vacation and the beginning of ours!

Dinner at Shed 5 in Wellington

After a quick night's rest we were up early for a good-bye brekkie. 

Thanks so much for visiting us Mom and Dad!!

Then we loaded up in our car and got in the queue to take the Interislander ferry from Wellington, on the North Island, to Picton, on the South Island.

We were in the queue for nearly an hour

It's a small car for six people on a two-week holiday
We had to pack lightly and that car was stuffed!

We'd never been on a car ferry before so this was a new experience

We had to leave our car and move up to the lounging floors.
This ferry even had a movie theatre and indoor playground!

The trip over was mostly cars, but the return trip included many freight trucks and camper vans

Julia's bag of activities and awesome view attracted a few new friends!

                                   

Whilst the girls enjoyed their solitary seats by the window for the three hour ride

We were blessed with "light" swells, Praise the Lord.
But if those were light, I don't want to experience moderate or anything above that!

The view above Picton harbour with our ferry in the background
What an amazing view with more to come...
And we're off to begin our holiday adventure!