My 2014 Adventure: Travels to Singapore, Australia & New Zealand: Monday, May 26

Overnight in Marahau there was a storm with very strong winds that rocked our campervan and dropped some pretty big raindrops. In the morning we emerged from the van to see the hilltops covered in snow and realized just exactly what kind of storm happened…this is pretty out of the ordinary considering this area is subtropical in climate. We were worried it would be too cold for our kayaking trip; however the sun emerged when we finally got the kayaks on the water at about 9am. Paul and I were in a tandem kayak, and I was a little worried we would just fight the whole day. It turns out we worked very well together; I watched out for rocks under the water and Paul expertly steered us away from them. In the morning we kayaked along the coast from Anchorage to Bark Bay. They had already dropped off our lunch of sandwiches, giant muffins, chip-your-tooth Budget brand chocolate cookies, feijoas, and most importantly, hot drinks. Four other girls joined us who had been walking the coastal track in the morning and we kayaked up around Tonga Island in the afternoon. Paul and I saw so much wildlife while kayaking including a little blue penguin, fur seals, a sea star, and native birds. The little blue penguin was adorable, just floating in the ocean, taking a break from hunting in the sunshine. We were able to take a hot shower back at the base camp for the kayaking company, then drove the van through the snow-covered mountains to the northern start of the track in Golden Bay, Totaranui.

After staying the night in the Totaranui Department of Conservation (DOC) campground, we woke up and packed lunches to walk a portion of the track. It was an interesting day to say the least…we were fine in the beginning, crossing beaches as they came. However, from one beach we decided to scramble over the rocks to reach the next beach. I think it's safe to say we misread our map. It turns out we should not have done this rock climbing because we ended up stranded on a sandbar. We had to continue climbing over rocks and fallen trees and mud to re-enter the track. The bright side is we got to see a sting ray swimming in the inlet. Once back on the track we realized there was a low tide crossing as part of the normal route, so we took off our shoes and slowly traipsed over all of the empty shells that birds had picked over and waded through the shallowest parts of the inlet water. I was elated to discover tiny crabs about the size of my big toenail, which walked sideways to run away from our impending footsteps. We had lunch at a hut, then turned around and walked back to Totaranui. I loved all the wildlife we saw this day including birds, large and small crabs, various snails attached to sea rocks, the sting ray, a blue sea star, and a tiny-bottom-feeding shark.

It was this day that we realized how cold it could get at night. Usually we drive around during the day and the engine warms up the van. However, our van had been sitting cold all day while we hiked. We were huddled under our comforters as soon as the sun went down at 5pm. We tried to cook rice on our gas burner, but the flame was low and eventually we ran out of LPG. Therefore, we ate cold sandwiches in the cold van…followed by crunchy rice (because it was warm) for dessert. I find it ironic that our coldest night of the whole trip was in fact in Abel Tasman National Park, a subtropical climate.

The next day it was so difficult to get out of bed in the cold weather. However, we managed to get up and drive to Takaka to refill our LPG. We needed a break so we parked the van near a bird sanctuary outside of town by the sea. We aired out the camper, made crepes for brunch, and had a walk along the shore. In the afternoon we did the short walk around Te Waikoropupu Springs, or Pupu Springs as the locals call it. We drove through Nelson, stocked up on groceries, and camped at the Pelorus Bridge campground. This river was used in some scenes of The Hobbit movies; I think when the orcs were chasing the dwarves in all those barrels down the river. The next day, on Thursday, we wound our way to Picton and drove our van onto the ferry. It was so cool to be riding the ferry along with all of those large semis. Of course it was pouring rain in Wellington soon after we arrived, which made it a bit difficult to get around and find a place to sleep. We ended up in a parking lot just off the interstate, right beside the sea.