New Zealand::Kaiteriteri to Marahau

30 January 2014-

GOOD MORNING!!!

Rise and shine sleepyheads!  Let's go for a jog…

 Do you see the little quail I'm "chasing"???  Well, I'm not really chasing it but it sure is running frantically to and fro in front of me as if I was chasing it.  Little bird – if you don't like me jogging behind you then how about you move to the side and pause for a moment???  Perhaps the "bird brain" stereotype holds true for these birds!!!  LOL!

 Check out the beaches!!!  Too many beaches, too little time..  I'm up for exploring any and all beaches that come our way.  How about you?

 View heading back into Kaiterteri:

So, we've talked it over with each other and done some reading on various websites and travel books and we've got an idea for today's activity: we're going to get dropped off by a water taxi at one beach and then get picked up at another beach at the end of the day. Sounds like fun, right?

The folks at the water taxi service we're going to use – Abel Tasman Sea Shuttle – have made a suggestion for a starting and stopping point for us.  Know what sold us on this particular section of the Abel Tasman walking trail???  There's a  SWING BRIDGE to cross!!!! We're going to get dropped off at Torrent Bay and picked up at Medland Bay in the late afternoon.  

While the adults are trying to sort out the whole water taxi and tickets and time tables issues the Minions the kids are busy playing with this zipline:

(first Annika:)

 (then Ava:)

Time to climb aboard the water taxi! Let's see – do we have everything we need?  Swimsuits -yep.  Snacks – yep.  Sunscreen – triple yep.  And a map???  yep – got that too.  I think we're all set to go!

Auntie Astrid and Henry:

The captain of the water taxi service and one of his crew mates pointed out this fur seal colony living on one of the islands close to the Abel Tasman park.  One of the seals was nursing a baby!:

Our ride in the water taxi:

Here's Torrent Bay… it's got a pretty nice beach to play on:

By the way, the water looks REALLY turquoise if you're wearing polarized glasses.  Too bad we didn't bring a polarized lens for our iPhone.  

Let's make a quick potty stop and let's head out on the trail.  

Oh, but first the kids want to play on this swing.  Naturally Annika has to climb up to the top of it (it's what she does!):

Now it's Ava's turn:

Looks like our hike today will be through a rather lush, tropical-looking jungle:

Complete with giant ferns and other exotic looking plants.

Oh, AND THE VIEWS!!!!! 

 That's looking back out at Torrent Bay (our starting out point for this hike):

Awwww….Mark and me.  <3 

and more…

Here's a rare photo of Auntie Beth…the photographers rarely ever get themselves photographed!  

 

How the heck do we get down to those beaches???  I'm not seeing any signs or any trails that appear to lead us down there.  Rats!  We REALLY want to go check out these gorgeous beaches!

Here's a nice looking swimming hole which is being fed by a small stream.  Hmmm….I bet it's cold!

The group is contemplating whether to jump in or not…which camp do you belong in?  The "jump in even if it's freaking cold" camp or the "I'm too smart for that" camp?  (I belong to the latter…for what it's worth):

The kids and Mark have decided: JUMP IN! 

 Gregory has just confirmed my suspicions: yes, it's COLD!!!!

Naturally Mark jumps right in….and out.  LOL!

 

Annika giving us her best fake smile while standing in the swimming hole.  I think she might be telling us to take the darn photo fast! 

 

I like Lily's fake smile.  Or, it could be a real smile.  I'm not sure.  Her face still is telling us to take the darn photos fast!

So, remember the reason we chose this section of the walk because someone mentioned that there would be a swing bridge????  Well, here it is:

And even more gorgeous views from the swing bridge:

Beth & Ray crossing the bridge:

Wow!  How did we manage a group photo of the Minions kids all looking at the camera at the same time?????

Another beach….okay…the kids and the parents are all getting extremely antsy.  How do we get down to this beach????????

 Yahoo!!!!!  We finally found a trail head that looks like it'll take us down to the beach down below.  

Oh, yeah!!!  Fantastic!  We made it…and we have about two hours that we can play on this beach.  (to get to it we've got to cross a small river channel). By the way, the water IS COLD.  And look at the new friend we made today:

it's a dark brown duck.  And this duck is super friendly!  It hung with Beth for quite some time…and it seems to like one of our favorite snacks (Brekkie on the Go).

Here's a little lunch break.  Perfect picnic spot!

Oh, and here's a better view of that small river channel we had to cross to get to the beach.  We'll have to go back that way in order to get out.

We explored the beach and the lagoon between the sandy beach and the land….Mark and I tried swimming in the ocean.  Holy schmoly – the water is cold.  I don't know why but I was expecting for the water temps to be warmer – these are more like Lake Michigan temps last summer (the water was just barely warm enough to swim in for a few minutes…before body parts started to get numb and fall off.  Okay.  No body really fell off but they could have!)

We've got about an hour to head over to our end destination, Medland Bay.  That's where the water taxi will pick us up:

It looks like that's our ride:

Time to get on the water taxi and head back to Kaiteriteri! 

After all that hiking and swimming we honestly don't feel up to cooking dinner tonight.  The adults mentioned something about eating burgers for dinner….mmmmmm….a real burger sounds good to me!  There's a burger joint close to the parking lot – let's go order a few (with some "chips"…ie. French fries) and eat them in the park.  And then the kids can play on the zipline while waiting for the food! 

Yummy burgers!  BUT I think I should have gone for the junior/kid-sized burger – there is NO WAY I can eat all of this!!!!  It IS good though. 

I bet you're wondering if we have any plans for tomorrow, right?  Well, you're in luck – we do indeed have a plan!  It's going to be a surprise – but I will tell you that we're going to move to a different campground – just one town over in Marahau.  It's a place called Old MacDonalds Farm and Holiday Park.  Yep.  FARM. Our neighbor in the Kaiterteri campground mentioned this place to us – apparently there are farm animals here.  How cool is that?  

I've got to say, this is one of the most beautiful campgrounds we've been in yet… beautiful farm country with loads of trees.  One tree next to our campervan is loaded with gorgeous sweet yellow plums.  Yummy!!!!  We asked at the reception office – and yes – we are allowed to eat the ripe fruit.  Yay!!!!

No farm is complete without a few ducks:

 And these ducks are certainly friendly!

 

 Quack! Quack! Quack!  Give us some more cereal!!!

 It's time to do some laundry (some of our clothes are quite fishy smelling…ewwwwwww….won't say who smells worse.  ;-)  It's also time for us all to take showers.  We're all pretty darn stinky!!!

Here's one last look at the hills around us…so lush and green and vibrant:

 

Laundry is done and we're all freshly showered…time for bed.  I'll just tell you this about tomorrow – you'll have to get up extra early for our adventure!!!!

Curious???????