South Island Camping

Josh and I decided we wanted to go "wild camping" for a few nights -so we were hitching and had our driver just drop us off on the side of the road in a place we didn't know. What we found was magnificent! Check it out!

Milford Sound and the Fiordlands

The Fiordlands are the most visited "attraction" here in NZ. These Fiords were carved out by glaciers, which still exist in many places, and have created sharp and steep mountains that seem to just jet up out of the water. We did a boat cruise around Milford Sound and stayed in Milford Lodge for 2 nights. It was one of the most spectacular places I've ever been. The energy is wild and fresh, the air is crisp, the wild parrots, called the Kea, (and sandflies) roam their territory.

The road that was built to drive to Milford (the next closest town is 120km away) took 20 years to build. Last year there was a tree avalanche that closed the road for 5 weeks. Every year in the winter, when snow avalanche falls, they just let it all fall onto the road and wait until the end of it to clear the roads completely. There are quite a few amazing photos on my Kodak album (see right panel of blog in a week or so when they're up) if you wish to see more!

The time we spent at Milford was pretty foggy and misty, which created a rather "Jurassic Park" kind of feeling~! Check out the MILFORD PHOTOS on the right hand side of the blog!

Franz-Joseph Glacier

Franz-Joseph Glacier was gorgeous! We've been camping out here for a few nights in this cute little town. Not much else to say about this, pictures say it all!

Picton - first stop on South Island

You would be this excited too if you were here

The walk/hike was 4 hours roundtrip, just an easy and beautiful meditation through the lush tropical forests. This was the turnaround point, looking out at all these gorgeous islands

Just got off the ferry, time to relax....ahh

Picton was a quaint town, we camped out and drank cappuccino and did the walk along the water. Not too bad of an introduction to the South Island :)

Wwoofing in Motueka (Meditation place)

The back yard at Haridav and Guruvatis house, our view at meal times

Hiking up to Mt. Arthur, it reminded us of the Olympic Rainforest, only not as dense with moss and a bit more dry and we drove most of the way up the mountain, walked a bit to the scenic points
View from one of the highest points we reached

Look Mom, I'm close to the edge!

Josh and I in Motueka

Motueka

4 of the 5 photos are from the hike up to Mt. Arthur. One of the girls living in the community (there are 4 families/couples living on this small bit of land) was nice enough to drive us up (about a 30 min drive up the mountain) where we then walked/hiked another 90 min and made it about an hour from the top (that was too far for us/me). The views were pretty spectacular from where we did make it, as you can see.

Our wwoofing duties were painting the meditation room as they were preparing for a meditation retreat the following week. There were to be 25 people staying in the houses and camping out with classes and meals provided for the 6-day retreat (at a rediculously low price of $160 all inclusive....so in US dollars that's about $80). If we had more time we probably would have just stayed for the retreat! This family also runs a B&B out of their home, so the mom is used to catering for guests and making delicious food, major bonus.

Nelson - the Centre of NZ hike

Nelson was a great little town, one of our favorite places so far. We stayed two separate times there before and after wwoofing in Motueka. There is a beautiful lagoon down there that empties and fills twice each day. It's pretty funny to see it empty because there are a handful of boats that are just sitting on the sand. Josh and I walked through it, kind of mushy under our feet, and did some Qi Gong at sunset one night.

Prana - New Years Festival

I camped at the "Buddhafield" where the meditation classes and some seminars were held, as well as Qi Gong in the mornings
This is the central area near 2 stages (lots of great live music) and the clothing huts and food stands were located

Oh yes, bellydancing class on the beach. About 5 people that have a music group of different drums and other instruments came out and serenaded us during this gorgeous evening

The bellydancing teacher, Shirin

PRANA was a 5-day festival that went over new years. It was in a private spot way out in the woods, and continued onto the beach. There were about 800-1,000 alternative like people all sharing a beautiful experience together. There were all types of classes, from yoga, bellydancing and latin dance, to Ayurvedic seminars, tons of bodyworkers, healthy organic food, and live music. Everyone stayed in either tents or caravans. Almost all materials were composted, recycled, or reused, creating very little waste.

Early mornings on the beach were my time for yoga and meditation, and of course a swim in the ocean. The weather was beautiful the whole time, not too hot and no rain. There were people from 4 of the 6 places I wwoofed at over the course of the last 3 months there, so it was nice to have some friends, but at Prana, everyone is your friend. Cliche, but true. I would go back for New Years in a heartbeat. Oh, and in US dollars, the ticket for the whole thing was just over $100.

Punakaiki (West Coast - South Island)

PANCAKE ROCKS AT PUNAKAIKI

We stayed here only for a night (this time around) and it was sheer beauty. We are camping all the way down the coast seeing a different place each day practically! At Punakaiki there is a place called the Pancake Rocks. They were formed millions of years ago by sea shells, bones, etc. and compression by the waves and continue to break down by the elements. There isn't anything in this town except a couple little cafes, a tavern, and a few places to camp and sleep. That's the way it should be :) We would definitely like to camp a few more nights here on our way back up the coast.

SOUTH ISLAND

Josh and I made it to the South Island!

We stayed just one night in Wellington to catch the ferry to the South Island. The ferry goes to a tropical little place called Picton, where we stayed a night in a campground (we've mostly been staying in campgrounds instead of Backpackers) and did our first big walk (or hike as we call them). It was a 4-hour walk to the end where we saw some of the most majestic views of our lives. The temperature was absolutely perfect, a bit of wind, a lot of sun, and no humidity at all. We have been buying just fruits, nuts, and veges from the store and having all our meals that way to save money on eating out.

We spent yesterday and today in Nelson, and later today our new wwoofing host is picking us up and we're heading to Motueka, not far from here. Nelson is a fabulous little town (they call it a city).

My posts are out of order now since we haven't had internet access for nearly a month to upload photos, so bear with me if things don't make sense :)

Back at Mike and Claires!!!

MIKE AND CLAIRE'S - AGAIN :)

Josh and I at the Morrisson's bay in Opotiki

Hard to see with the picture sideways, but turn your head to the right and you'll see the entire ceiling is full of garlic in the curing process. This was our work for the 4 days at the house.

Josh doing what he does best

Harvesting garlic

Josh arrived on Saturday after I had spent an amazing 5 days at the PRANA festival in the Coromandel. We spent a day in Auckland getting him situated (basically buying a guitar for him and just enjoying being back together again) and then headed back to the Bay of Plenty.

We're loving life at Mike and Claires, harvesting and curing garlic, and loving the harvesting of the corn (really just eating it). It's as gorgeous as ever here and life for the family is busy - picking and selling corn and the rest of the massive amounds of veges coming up!

We had our first experience hitching, which was both successful and fun! Much better when the person you're hitching with can play the guitar and sing. I think it plays down the fact that he's a man. A lot of people are hesitant to pick up men, but couples and especially musicians have better luck....I'm told.

Next we're off to Gisborne for a few nights of camping and then finding our way down to Wellington and soon we should hit the South Island!