Wainui Bay was the last stop on our Abel Tasman tramp. We had tickets to get on a bus in the parking lot at 11:30am so the last day was about 5 km over a smallish mountain and waiting in a parking lot in the bush. There were others there waiting for the same bus which added comfort in the windy, cold, pouring rain!
Then, off to Collingwood, in the Golden Bay area to stay at Heron's Rest B&B for a couple nights! (Herons really do rest there!)
Collingwood was time off to relax after tramping. We discovered a Chocolate Shop that makes entirely organic chocolate and YUM...went back a couple times!
Maureen and Angus were kind and drove us around a bit so we 
could explore the area. We went on a smallish hike in a beautiful forest along the Kaituna River and had lunch at The Naked Possum! New Zealanders don't like possums (introduced by Australia for hunting) because they are killing off the kiwi birds and a tree called the Rata.
They keep an outdoor fire lit all day long!
New Zealand has many very interesting rock formations both on the coast and inland. Here is one Maureen took us to called "Devil's Boots." There are two of them side by side!
December 15 we headed to Nelson by bus again, collected our other belongings from the campsite that kept them for us and December 15 we took another bus to Picton and boarded a train to get back to Christchurch. It was about a 6 hour train ride along the coast.
In Christchurch, the nicest people looked after us and had us stay in their lovely home on the edge of town on 10 acres. Karen and Peter Henry and son Jack (Jackson). Their other son Sam was away while we were there. A coworker, Susan, was nice to hook us up and we are really glad she did!
The Henry's cooked supper on their "canadian" barbeque (beer can chicken!) and took us on a tour of Christchurch.
Here is the Henry's home in the country. 
Here is Jack with Sarah and Matthew. They attempted to learn cricket with Jack while we were there but I think they were too shy! Sarah says cricket is easier and makes more sense than baseball!
I went on a mini shopping trip with Karen and was able to find some great school workbooks for the kids (their Christmas present?) Karen is a teacher and was a great help in finding the right stuff! The kids may have a few spelling differences when we get home but the math and english books cover the right topics for their grade levels.
Soon, we leave the Henry's home with lots of advice and head south in the rental car we will keep until we leave New Zealand.....to be continued.....chocolate tour coming soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment