Glacier Walk- January 9th, 2012
After a good nights rest we hiked to the Franz Josef Glacier. The glacier is located on the West Coast of New Zealand within the Westland Tai Poutini National Park. The glacier is roughly 12km long and as of 2007 was known as one of the only glaciers in New Zealand to still be growing but in 2010 it began to recede and still is today. Being thrifty travellers we did not choose to hike up the glacier on a tour but we did get pretty close and enjoyed the great view! There were also quite a few waterfalls surrounding the area as well.
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| Veronica: "SNOW" haha |
On our way towards Nelson (heading North) we stopped at the Pancake Rocks..as seen below. There are several blow holes located within the rocks, but due to timing (the tide) we didn't catch any in action...but it was quite neat to see them!!
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| Pancake Rocks |
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| Can you see all the animal faces in these rocks?? (Hint..see the seal right in the middle..looks like he is balancing a hat on his head?) |
Chocolate Pudding - January 10th, 2012
Arrived in Nelson today at Tasman Bay Backpackers..and guess what..they had FREE Chocolate pudding and ice cream every night dessert! Tasman Bay was one of the nicest hostels we have stayed at thus far. We have stayed in some good hostels..each with their pros and cons, but this one was very enjoyable to stay at...how could it not be with the free pudding! We shared a 4 bed dorm with a woman from France and another from Scotland.
Beach Bums- January 11th, 2012
Taking a day off to relax, today we hung out at the beach and watched the windsurfers. I lounged and Mark tried to do some fishing off the dock..but had no luck. Going with the relation theme we decided to catch a flick at the movie theatre this night as well.
Maori Carvings- January 12th, 2011
We have done lots of exciting activities since being in New Zealand but today I was taking part of Bone carving and was one of my favorite activities thus far! Mark was going fishing today so I, along with 5 others headed to a downtown studio which taught how to make traditional Maori bone carved necklaces.Using cow bone we each sketched, cut, sanded, and grinded our bone pieces to create our necklace pendants. It took us a whole day (9-3) but was well worth it and was lots of fun! The steps you can see in the pictures. The pendant I made is in the shape of a fish hook and a twist which represents two ferns coming together (ever lasting friendship) and the fish hook represents luck and safety in a journey and journeys ahead.
We left for Picton(where you cross to the South Island) after bone carving and spent the night at Atlantis Backpackers (one of the worst backpackers thus far)
Journey Across the Sea- January 13th, 2012
Today we boarded the ferry across to North Island..took about 4 hours...little bit of sea sickness but we made it to Wellington, the capital of NZ! We stayed at Base Backpackers, directly downtown, were we toured around first then later that night we went to bar with fellow Canadians that we met at dinner.
Free Day- January 14th 2012
Took a visit to the Te Papa Museum today, which was surprisingly free! It had wonderful displays and exhibits all celebrating NZ culture and heritage. There was also a wedding dress exhibition which was really neat to see! We also took a walk through downtown called the Beehive Walk (since one of the parliament buildings looks like a beehive) We took the cable car up to the botanical gardens and toured through until heading home.
Relaxation- January 15th-
Before leaving Wellington we went to Weta Caves. Weta Caves is a company that develops costumes, miniatures, makeup, and special effects for movies, especially NZ films, particularly Lord of the Rings! It was very interesting to hear and see all the stuff they created for Lord of the Rings and the process that they go through just to create a scene. We then drove four hours to Taupo and stayed at Tiki Lodge Resort Backpacers, had a hot tub, did some reading- Night!
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