SV FLUENTA

Sunday, 6 March 2016

The Big NZ Road Trip Photos - Pt 4 - The West Coast - Beaches, Surfing, Driftwood Art and Pancake Rocks.

We could have stayed weeks in Abel Tasman was wanderlust drew us further south. To position ourselves for the much anticipated knife making we stayed at a nice campground in Punakaiki. In addition to the knife making in Barrytown which Johnathan ably detailed earlier in the blog, I took the opportunity to rent a board and do some surfing and we checked out the cool pancake rocks.

Not a bad spot to camp!


Not a bad spot to camp !

Pancake Rocks

Almost up

Dad, are you done surfing yet ??


No, there is no room for a pony onboard, even a small one.

After Punakaiki we drove south towards the glaciers. Enroute we stopped for lunch at Hokitika where the annual driftwood competition had just finished.

Thursday, 3 March 2016

The Big NZ Road Trip Photos - Pt 1 - Taupo

Liz has already written about the first section of our road trip. Now, here is the first installment of photos.

After a nice stay with Jamie and Caroline we were off to Taupo where we stayed in Reid's free (!) camp site:

Camping !

Reid's Campsite

Victoria has made breakfast and has some quiet time to write in her journal

Reid Campground bathing facilities

Pretty nice facilities for a free campground


Liz's fancy yoga studio

Haka Falls

Craters of the Moon


Craters of the Moon. The kids of course did some science experiments pouring water onto the hot areas

One of the nice about a longer trip is the ability to take your time. We spent a bunch of time watching some birds feed their young and build a nest.

Lunch time

and then of course the wake from these guys wiped out the nest.

Dam release !

Danger !

Budget spa visit. Free hot springs - the hot water flows out from the right of the photo and then mixes with the cooler water from the river.

The Big NZ Road Trip Photos - Pt 3 - Abel Tasman

From Wellington we crossed the Cook Strait (on a ferry ! much easier than taking our own boat) to Picton and did the long, twisty but scenic drive to Abel Tasman National Park.

Across the Cook Strait and into Marlborough Sound.

The speed limit is 100 kph except for down to 15 kph in some corners ...

Some height restrictions

Another amazing breakfast produced by Victoria and Johnathan. I am not sure if Benjamin helped all that much.

Lots of kids to play with.

and lots of beaches

and more beaches and excellent hikes.

and creeks to play in.

It was nice to camp without having to take precations for bears. The weka were particularly brave though. A very poor picture of these interesting birds. More details and good pictures on-line.

The Big NZ Road Trip Photos - Pt 2 - South to Wellington - Army Museum and Te Papa

After Taupo we drove south to Wellington with an impromtu stop at the New Zealand Army Museum.

Goodbye Lake Taupo

Volcanoes

and some flat stretches

An impromptu stop at the NZ Army Museum. It was an impressive museum and we could have spent much of a day there.

The highlight of our time in Wellington was the Te Papa museum. As Liz writes about, we thought we could do it justice in part of a day ... Two almost full days later and we still have not seen it all.

Te Papa's Colossal Squid (the link takes you to the Te Papa's squid page) - The largest ever squid that has been recovered.

Not only are whales majestic, they have big hearts. Benjamin inside a full size model of a blue whale heart,

One of the original cannons of Capt Cook's HMS ENDEAVOUR.

One of the unexpected highlights of the Te Papa was the Gallipoli exhibit. After 23 years in the military and with an interest in history I have been to a fair number of military museums. None have done as good of a job connecting the attendee to the people involved in the conflict.

Throughout the Gallipoli Exhibit there were 2.4 times life size models of some of the participants.


Throughout the Gallipoli Exhibit there were 2.4 times life size models of some of the participants.