More pictures

The ferry crossing route

Picton harbour

Clear water!

My cabin at "the barn" in Marahau

Silver fern!

28/12/2013 + 29/12/2013 first day of stray and Abel Tasman national park

Got picked up by the stray bus at the blueridge ferry building in Picton at 12ish yesterday in the pouring rain.  I met lots of people within 5 mins of joining the tour so I can see this as being a very fun way of travelling around the south island!

We first went to a winery, which was included in the stray tour.  Tried various wines and got talking to other people before we were driven to an airfield to be shown the various handgliders we could book for our Abel Tasman stay.

We then went to our accommodation "The Barn" in Marahau in Abel Tasman national park.  It is a really  nice campsite situated in a wide green valley about 20 minutes from the golden beaches!

The rest of the night consisted of getting to know everyone in my stray group as these are the people I will be sharing a bus for 2 weeks with and will be spending new years eve and day with too.

Today however 29/12/2013 was a very different day.  It has been raining non stop since last night and visibility is very bad unfortunately, but I just got on with the hike despite this poor weather.

At 9ish this morning, I and three other friends caught the water taxi over to Anchorage (another bay further up the coast)

We got a chance to see the beautiful coast even if it was a bit foggy and rainy, it really is remarkably stunning, I just wish I could have seen it in better conditions.

When we arrived at Ancourage we hiked through the bush along the 15km track back to Marahau.  The rain really started to pelt it down so I wore my backpack under my waterproof coat.  This did effectively make me look like the hunchback of Notre Dame, but whatever, at least my bag was dry.

We walked uphill to the tops of the hills to see the beautiful views of the tasman sea, the bays and the rest of the park which disappeared into a huge monster of a cloud.

I was told that we were walking through rainforest which was quite fitting considering it was raining hard.  Throughout the walk I was surrounded by huge ferns, trees bushes and plantation of various kinds, it was really amazing how alive and noisy the place was too, the loud roaring of the waterfalls the crazy sounds the birds were making it just created this huge orchestra of natural sounds.  I really do feel privileged to have been able to explore this great place.

The walk took us roughly four hours and I have just had a boiling hot shower and am looking forward to just chilling out and possibly going kayaking tomorrow morning (providing the weather gets its act together) 

The stray bus I'm travelling on

Marahau 

Split apple rock

Anchorage

The stray crew!

12.4km?  Easy peasy.

Creepy rainforest

A silver fern!

Overall a very enjoyable day

First day of the south island!- Picton

This morning I caught the nine oclock interisland ferry from Wellington to Picton.  Despite the rough ferry crossing I made it across in one piece and got the chance to go up to the observation deck of the ferry to check out the stunning views of the Tory Channel and the Queen Charlotte sound before the ferry docked in Picton and I made my way to Sequoia lodge hostel just off Nelson Square.

Picton is a nice little port town with loads of shops and quaint neighbourhoods.  However this small settlement is dwarfed by the magnificent scenery that surrounds it.  The glistening waters and the majestic bush covered hills just bring one word to mind - paradise.

This afternoon after I'd checked in at the hostel I ventured into town intending to book a kayak or go on an eco tour but the last of the tour parties had left and there were no more tours, therefore I tried to find a good hiking route and fortunately I did.  

I climbed to harbour view point then on to Bobs bay before making my way back because of the persistent rain and the thick black clouds that were gathering above.

This place is amazing, so natural and majestic (despite the sounds of speedboats zipping past every now and again) I could stay on the beaches and go walking through the bush for days, but I must move on to Abel Tasman national park!

I'm thinking of renting a kayak or canoe for an early morning paddle tomorrow morning before I leave tomorrow at noon.  I will be coming back here again to get back to Wellington in a couple of weeks time so I will get the chance to enjoy these bays and the scenery again. 

Here's some pics from today.

Approaching the entrance to the Tory Channel.  The winds were so strong.

My hostel

The Marina

View of queen charlotte sound from the top of the ridge, shame about the clouds

Bobs bay

Day 2 Napier

Got up quite early but missed the free breakfast at the Criterion!  Never mind, a cereal bar is just as good as corn flakes anyway haha

Me and andy (a guy from yorkshire) decided go around Napier to see the different sights e.g. Art deco architecture, gardens, bush gardens, bluff hill lookout.

The hikeup to bluff hill lookout took us about an hour and a half from the hostel, but that was because we went the long way around the industrial port area and then up through some housing estates haha not well planned at all but we still got there anyway.

The entire of hawkes bay was visible and the pacific ocean, was really beautiful such a good place just to chill out and take in the beauty of the east coast.

We then went to Napier prison and had a look around, pretty crud really, but the various gardens and the art deco style of the entire CBD was quite beautiful.

Me under the Napier arch, didn't notice how far away I was until i uploaded it to here

Me and the bay

Gannets

 

Hawkes bay

Cape kidnappers in the far distance

Waterfall at the centennial gardens

Paid a visit to a photography gallery

Day 1 Napier

Got on the bus at half 8 this morning and battled through the 6 gruelling hours it took to get to Napier on the smelly overcrowded coach haha

Its about 29 degrees up here so very hot indeed, I've had to put two lots of cream on!

Arrived at about 2ish and walked around to find the hostel.

It's really nice, spacious and there's lots to do so I'll be quite busy here.  Later I decided to go for a walk along the sea front and then went to New Zealands national aquarium.  The sea front is beautiful and you get an excellent view of Hawkes bay and the pacific.  I thought that the aquarium would have been bigger and there would be more stuff on, so I was a tad disappointed but overall its been a nice half day up here.  Going to go for some shopping and start making dinner and find something to do for tonight.

Criterion hotel - my hostel

Beach and sea front

Napier arch

Arch commemorating victims of the earthquake 

Feeding the penguins

Diving with sharks

Hungry carp