November 30th - Wanaka Part Deux

Today was a a full day of sight seeing!  Though it was starting to clear up in Wanaka, the wind was still quite strong.  We spotted a hill top from town that we knew would have amazing views so we eventually made our way up there after finding some raved about coffee at the Chop Shop.  The Chop Shop is a small clothing store for both adults and kids but inside at the cash desk in the back they have a little fancy coffee machine where the Aussie guy was very adamant that what I wanted was a Long Mac.  (Short for long macchiato).  Definitely a good cuppa joe but I still prefer a 'long black', which is basically an americano with less water so it's stronger, then I add milk to cool it down and make it creamy.  (Not a fan of steamed or microwaved milk..changes the taste too much.)
 


We wandered around town and found a bakery for our daily pie, chose goat this time, decent but not the best we've had so far. 

The Famous Cinema Paradiso is here in Wanaka and we bought our tickets ahead of time to see Thor this evening.  (You know how I hate to be late for a movie.) 


Having had a snack we were ready to head out to Puzzling World on recommendation by Ryan's cousin Sarah.  We saw it on the way in to Wanaka the day before and thought it looked like a giant play area, assuming it was just for kids.  Turns out it's for big kids too!  ;)
True to her word, Puzzling World was totally worth it.  The Illusions Room was stomach-churning cool.  (p.s. Don't go hungover...)  And "The Great Maze Labyrinth" with it's 1.5km in confusing passages, was a super fun challenge having to find all for 4 corners before finding your way out again.   Pretty sure we beat the average!  :o)
        
  
Back home (our tiny cabin at the Top 10) to search for our next 'home/accommodations' in Queenstown. (Queenstown is only an hour away, so close we can taste it.)  In Franz Joseph we stayed at the Top 10 Holiday Park as well and should have purchased the Top 10 Discount card there, not realizing we would be staying in them all over NZ.  We came to our senses and purchased it today saving us a fair amount of money and more throughout the year being able to use it in Australia as well.  The card costs $49; saved $12 at our current cabin and saved another $40.00 for our accommodations in Queenstown for the week.  We just got paid $3.00!  YEAH!   We'll also get a discount on the ferry when we decide to head back up to the North Island.

We had some time to kill and the road past our cabin looked kinda cool and not touristy busy so we drove, and drove...the mountains were amazing as usual and we saw random sheep in the fields which is quite normal on the South Island; there were also sheep on road in front of us.  WHAT?  Holy crap!  There is a whole herd of sheep blocking the road in front of us...we slowed down to a crawl...shock in our eyes, laughing at the sight of sheep nuggets everywhere, sheep running every which way, meheheheh'ing loudly.  Then Ryan says "Why aren't you videoing?'  Oh right, haha.. I was so excited to see sheep on the road, actually moving more than their mouths that I was almost star struck.  As luck would have it, there were two herds of sheep and I got the second one on video. Oh man...that was hilariously fun!  I love sheep!

We eventually headed back to town for our movie, got our wine, beer and popcorn and found a nice comfy couch in the middle of the middle!  Perfect.  Cesar would be proud.  For real, a whole theater of comfy couches and chairs. I took my shoes off and we curled up together to watch Thor.  Half way through the movie was intermission where you could get more wine, beer, ice cream, popcorn and warm freshly baked cookies.  That's right!  It's all you smelled just before intermission and it's all you could think about.  We didn't succumb as we were pretty full already but gosh...who can say no to warm freshly baked cookies?

November 29th - Wanaka

Yup, that says 2.389/Litre!!!

Woke up that morning to thick fog and blustery wind with heavy rain.  Needless to say the drive from Franz Josef Glacier to Fox Glacier and beyond was not as scenic as our last few road trips.  Luckily we only had to fill half a tank of gas in FJG before getting on the road because petrol (gas) was ridiculously expensive.

We might have stopped at Fox Glacier had the weather been better but we didn't have anything specifically planned and decided there wasn't any point if we couldn't see anything...and we couldn't.  :(






Pit stop to use the ladies room and couldn't help but share these shapes on the back of the wooden door.
Very "Scary Movie" ish.  lol







It was crazy miserable outside but we were still on the hunt for penguins.  Slight detour just off the main road to see if we could find any but in the 5 minutes that we could bare in the torrential downpour and wind, we only found a pretty walk and a lovely waterfall.

 

Many towns we drove through were so small that they only had a single store, restaurant or gas station, then nothing again for miles. One we stopped at was all 3 put together into one.  As I have no pics, a detailed description will have to do: 

It was a fairly large building with a few gas pumps out front.  Inside was warm (thank goodness) and had a cafeteria style setting where you could order soup, fish n chips, and a few other fried items.  There were 3 cooler fridges containing sodas, juices and beer; as well as wire stands with chocolate, candy, chips and a few touristy travel items like playing cards or tissues.  A large lounge off to the left housed about 20 hand made heavy wooden tables and benches.  (Something you might see at a kids camp or recreation park for large gatherings.)  At 2:00pm I ordered whatever remained at the bottom of the vegetable soup pan; Ryan got a coffee and his usual meat pie.  All were terrible but it was warm and we got to sit on the neat wooden benches inside the lounge sheltered from the cold, wind and rain.  There were 3 older people working there: a woman who got my soup, a man who made Ryan's coffee and a woman vacuuming. We were the only customers aside from an older man who was hitchhiking to Haast (a very small town we briefly stopped in for a pie about 60km back).  As we ate in this ginormous room we looked around and saw that they had license plates from all over the world decorating the walls.  The woman said they have all the plates from Canada but Nova Scotia. Cool!  There was also a large fire place with an antique cushioned chair in the back corner.  Just to the left of that was another large area where you could purchase souvenirs, trinkets, sweaters and luxury soaps and lotions.  While browsing I spoke with the woman vacuuming and she told me she had spent some time on Vancouver Island and went whale watching.  Loved it and said that she and her husband are now going to explore their own country (NZ).
Doh! Almost forgot; they also had a giant Big Horned Sheep head, stuffed and displayed on the mantle!  :-o

As we got closer to Wanaka, (according to Lonely Planet - Queenstown's little sister.) even though the drive seemed so desolate because of the weather it was still impressive.  Lake Wanaka was gorgeous and seemed to go on forever as we drove alongside on the rolling hills.  Queenstown was only another hour away but Wanaka's town was quite cute with a ton of character so we decided to stay a few nights and found a cabin at another Top 10 Holiday Park for only $70.00/night.  Just outside of the CBD, our room had 2 bunk beds, a little table for the laptop, and we could hear the sheep "baaahaahaah"ing from across the field.  :) The bathrooms and showers were just up the walk and as usual, all were clean as the Top 10 parks seemed to be very well maintained.



We read about local brew pubs and tried out Kai Whakapai as it's known as Wanaka's friendliest relaxed cafe-bar.  Beer was served in large glass mugs but when we ordered ours we just got tall glasses.  Curiosity got the better of us and when asked they advised those mugs are for locals as each person has their name on their own mug.  RAD!  I won't deny that we were feeling a little jealous that we didn't have mugs with our names on them.  We  enjoyed our beer as an appy and chose another place for dinner.  (But that one beer had me buzzed - it was a big glass!)

We walked around checking out different menus and finally landed at Speight's Ale House but their menu was different from the one in Greymouth.  Ryan had beer and I tried the *Huntaway Pinot Noir.  I fell in love!  Our drinks were accompanied by Mussels in wine broth and a 300gm steak with veg that we split! My apologies for the lack of food pictures in this post as we were clearly drinking too much to remember photo opps.  The dishes were fantastic though. Feeling happy, full and tipsy we walked back over to Kai Whakapai for another drink and this gluten free dessert I spied earlier.  Cakey coconut & berries.  Yum! 

*The Huntaway Pinot Noir is my new favorite wine.  Local to the Otago region and can be found at New World grocery store here in Queenstown.  Regularly $21.00 it's been on sale for $14.99 the last few weeks so I keep restocking and I think of my bestie Sabrina every time I pour myself a glass. :)

November 28th - Peter's Pool

Good Morning Franz Josef Glacier!

This place has some spectacular views whether from our tiny little cabin or while walking the Glacier Trails to see Franj Josef itself or to Peter's Pool!  In total we hiked/walked for 3 hours and it was beautiful.  The sand flies weren't too bad (bonus) and we couldn't have asked for a sunnier day.  

After breakfast we drove out to the Glacier Walk entrance by going over the Waiho River bridge (which also reminded me of Dante's Peak when it got washed away by volcanic ash and lava.)  We didn't take this picture but just to give you an idea, as the view of the bridge was similar if not exactly the same on the day we went. 

That's me.

About 90 minutes return; the Glacier walk was fairly flat but very rocky under our feet.  The first 15 minutes or so is through the forest but then opens up into this massive valley-like riverbed filled with rocks of all shapes and sizes, carved out and left behind by the Glacier.  Some of the rocks were the size of a car and other the size of a pea but all were shiny with either the look of wood or the look of metal.  Hard to explain.  I stole one for Chloe as I remember her to be a rock collector.  






 


There were many "warning" signs stating that the valley can be very hazardous with weather changes happening within minutes like river flooding and ice falling.  Didn't seem too hazardous to us but then we read on about how people have died by not heading the warnings and going off the marked path or getting too close to the Glacier.  So we followed the rules but I could tell Ryan was keen to to get a little closer than allowed.

If you look close enough you can see two groups of people on the Glacier.  We were only able to see them through Ryan's 300mm zoom lens. An even closer look at this pic we see that there are steps built into the ice leading to the top.  Somewhere in the middle a man is ice climbing. 

There were a few other walks to choose from and Peter's Pool sounded interesting to me.  Turned out to be my favorite sight so far.  As we started our journey into the forest we were surrounded by the constant sounds of birds chirping with the Tui always successfully out-singing all the others.  The Tui has a very distinct voice so we knew it was close by and soon we saw him with the beautiful blue hue with the white ruffles under the neck flying around.  Such a cool bird!  Anyway, back to Peter and his Pool.  

About 20 minutes into the forest, we came across a clearing to Peter's Pool.  Beautiful!  With a wooden bench to sit on, and a view of the Glacier across the pool, I could tell this was a place where I could easily lose track of time.  The weather was perfect as we could see the reflection of the Glacier on the water.  An elderly women was sitting on the bench admiring the view and attempting to take pictures with her iPad.  (iPad picture taking people crack me up!)  She made no sign of leaving her 'seat-with-a-view' any time soon as she settled in just staring and smiling.

Peter's Pool

Named after Peter Westland, a 9 year old boy who camped here with his mother in 1894; this "kettle" lake was formed around 200 years ago as a chunk of ice from the retreating Glacier melted.  I read that in another 100 years the lake may disappear as rushes and other plants take over the area.  Sad but pretty awesome!




Moving along the forest path through thick green lush ferns and tall trees, we hiked up and down steep hills to get to the Douglas Bridge about 20 minutes away from the pool. 







We crossed the suspension bridge only to find the trail closed on the other side due to mud slides.  So we stopped for a trail mix snack before heading back. 






Once again the Tui seemed to be following us with his song but if you got too close he would fly away.  The elusive Tui bird is a shy one for pictures.  But here is one I found on the web to show their awesome look.  


After our 3 hour hike we stopped into a local pub for a few beer and some snacks before heading back to our little cabin.  And this is what happened next.

All tuckered out!

November 26th & 27th - Let's get wasted and learn about Whitebait!

Hoping that we would be able to stay a second night at the Kingsgate Hotel in Greymouth (because it's luxury having a bed, a hairdryer, electrical outlets and a bathroom with a shower, especially when it's raining and super windy...call me a princess...whatever!); I called the front desk upon waking but they confirmed no availability. :(  I asked if there was some event happening this week to be fully booked for a Tuesday night in Greymouth.  (Fyi, although Greymouth is the largest town in the west coast region on the South Island with a population of 9940, it is reminiscent of an old western ghost town.)  She said that there wasn't anything but "just a lot of Asian tourists as it's getting into our busy season."  Double sad face :( :(     I climbed back in bed.  Harrumph.  Wishful thinking they would call me back and say, 'oh, we actually do have room'.... And guess what???  They did just that not even 5 minutes later.  Woohoo!  MAGIC!!!  :)

Awesome tomato soup and toasted croissant w/eggs & bacon.

So on that note we got up, (I put make-up on for the first time in 2 weeks because I knew I could have a hassle free shower before bed) and headed off for breakfast to a place around the corner called Ali's.  It was more cold and *rainy than we expected so we hurried there as I had blow-dried my hair the night before.  The coffee was good and really strong, and breakfast was hearty and tasty!  I would say this is the best breakfast and *coffee we've had thus far.
 

Still rainy and blustery, we finally had to suck it up and buy an umbrella which we found at The Warehouse for $20; then stopped by Monteith's Brewery (our sole reason for staying in Greymouth) to register for the 6:00pm tour.  With that taken care of we headed off to Hokitika, which is the next town south about 30 minutes away.  En route we saw Elk but it took us a minute to register what we were seeing. 


Hokitika is a cute little town on the water, known for many arts and crafts shops, studios and factories as well as it's sunsets (on clear days unlike today).  Hokitika is also the home of Greenstone. (New Zealand jade)  Ventured into a private artist's jade store and saw some pretty amazing hand made jewellery which was well out of my price range but still nice to look at.




On the way back Ryan got an idea for some pics and stopped at a rocky beach where the rain let up just long enough for him to capture some cool shots!  My favorite one is in color.  It looks like someone poured a glass of creamy milk over the rocks, but it's just the waves crashing into shore.  Ryan loves the b&w one.  Cool!
 

The Monteith's Brewery tour was such a good deal.  At $45 per person, we couldn't go wrong.  They sent a cabby to pick us up from our hotel and we each got a Monteith's hat, 5 beers of our choice, and a $15 voucher for dinner at a participating pub that our cabby also took us to.  Includes all tax and tip!  The tour was informative and the guide super friendly.  We even got to pour our own beer from the tap.  I was a natural of course having had experience from work.  :)  With our $30 food voucher we were able to get a huge platter of fish, chicken, spring rolls, wedges, scallops and sausage.  In total we spent $90 for a brewery tour, 2 hats, 10 beers and a huge platter of food. AND we got to look 'hawt' in our orange smocks! 
Safety First!

The best part was meeting some interesting people.  A danish guy (Christian) currently living in Christchurch had his parents visiting and even though we had a bit of a language barrier, we still had beer and friendliness in common.  At the restaurant we met 2 older gentlemen who had driven in that day from Christchurch on business. (John & Wayne   lol)   Both were really nice guys but Wayne was the more quiet one of the two.  However when we mentioned *Whitebait, he lit up and was talking up a storm.  He didn't hesitate to give us his business card and invited us over for dinner and even a place to sleep should we ever find ourselves in the Christchurch area.  After having way too much to drink we called a cab for home.  (Which ended up being the same guy that drove us there...small town.)

Next morning - Having done all we could do in Greymouth;  checked out and went back to Ali's for a hearty breakfast and great coffee to fuel us for the day's drive.  So much to look at along the way: Shanty Town which might have been cool but we didn't want to spend the money to go in; instead we took pictures of all the old tools on the side of the road leading up to the entrance. 


A brief stop at the "Glow worm dell" but it was still morning and bright out so nothing to see but some viney trees and a bit of trickling water.  We read in our trusty Lonely Planet that the Hokitika Gorge was worth a look only being 30 minutes off the highway.  Wow!  Not only was the drive beautiful but the gorge itself was amazing.  And full of those blasted sand flies.  As long as you keep moving they don't cling on.  Any time we stopped for a minute I was jogging on the spot.  I have a love hate relationship with the sand flies.  They love me, I obsessively hate them!!!

On the way out to the Hokitika Gorge.

Hokitika Gorge - as you can imagine, the picture doesn't do it justice.

Weka - This guy tried to climb into the van when we went back for bug spray.  Friendly football sized birds. 

Back on the road again towards Franz Josef Glacier, most of the time we had no cell reception and just as it seemed we were in the middle nowhere, there was a helicopter pad just off the road.  We drove in just for the view and this man quickly came over.  Offered us a $300 helicopter ride to the top of both Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers for only $150 each.  As awesome as it would have been, we declined being that we are jobless and homeless.  lol

Arriving in Franz Josef was like stepping onto the set of the 1997 movie "Dante's Peak" starring Linda Hamilton and Peirce Brosnan.  Beautiful small town, tons of character, but instead of a volcano it was a glacier.  Wandered around town for a bit and saw that there was a hike to the Glacier about 90 minutes return and decided we'd take a crack at it in the morning.  We checked into a standard cabin at the Top 10 Holiday Park for only $65 a night. 

*Ryan really is the best guy around.  As mentioned, I had blow-dried my hair the night before (something I hadn't been able to do in more than a week) and JCDV was a few blocks away from Ali's diner.  The rain had really started to come down and Ryan being a gentleman offered to get the van and pick me up so I didn't have to get soaked...while I took care of the bill.  Awww sweety!  I <3 him!

*As some of you may already know, instant coffee is the norm here so we were super eager to have a real coffee.  As with home, some coffee is mediocre and some is awesome.  This one was awesome! 

*Whitebait -  "A collective term for the immature fry of fish, (such as herring, sprat, sardines, mackerel, bass and many others.) typically between 25 and 50 millimetres long.  It is not an ecologically viable foodstuff and in several countries strict controls on harvesting exist."  When we got to the South Island, particularly on the west coast we noticed there were many signs and boards advertising Whitebait.  Apparently it's wildly sought after this time of year and people go crazy over it.  John and Wayne told us stories of how some would get out their rifles should they find another in their spot fishing for Whitebait.  We have yet to try it but I have a feeling it would be quite disappointing after all the hype.  The entire fish is eaten including the head, fins and gut and basically reminds me of the little deep fried salty 'n' spicy fish you can get at a late night Chinese noodle house that go great with congee.  Looks like they mostly make fritters and patties out of them. 
P.s. I've been craving congee!

November 25th - Got out of Dodge!

Since the weather was turning rainy we thought we'd get out of Dodge... (meaning head off to Greymouth to the Monteith's brewery.)  There were soooo many relentless sand flies.  They say "the wind and the rain keep the sand flies down."  It's like they could feel the rain coming and were using every last second to frantically and viciously eat our flesh before then.  I was really missing my *Asian friends.  (Gladys, Shirley and Cesar to name a few...) We encountered a few more biters on the road and at one point Ryan said, "I'm sure glad you're the more Asian one of us."  The bugs were so bad in the morning (still at the $8/per night camp ground) that I didn't even want to get changed there so we packed up our tent and gear pretty quick and high-tailed it to McDonald's for our first NZ *fast food experience.  (I got changed in the bathroom.)  I had a sausage 'n' egg McMuffin meal with cappuccino, and it wouldn't be me if I didn't customize my order by getting it double toasted with lettuce, tomato and mayo.  It was quite good but I did notice that their English muffin was a little smaller however their hash brown seemed longer than ours.  Ryan had the English Brekkie Wrap meal which came with sausage, scrambled egg, tomato and bbq sauce.  "Not bad" he said.

Ryan being the mechanic felt that JCDV needed a jack and tire iron in the event that we got a flat so off we went to The Warehouse before starting our next road trip.  We drove almost straight to Westport (about 2 hours) save for some gas and snacks (Chicken flavor chips, again awesome!)
We read that in Westport there is a Seal Colony and their birthing season is right about now so we drove a little out of the way and found another black sand beach.  If you walk about 15 mins up a guided path there is a wooden lookout where we saw about 10 or so seals. 


Some big, some small that could have been babies.  Not quite close enough to snap any pics of the seals but we did get some of the scenery. 
 





















Back on the road there was a sign that read "Watch for penguins for next 5km".  Exciting!!!  We were on the look-out but sadly we didn't see any penguins, however we did see Pancake Rocks and some dolphins too.   So cool!!!
 
                         

Finally made it to Greymouth after a long windy (as in squiggly) and windy (as in blustery) drive.  Very happy to be sleeping in a hotel, no shower restrictions and no blasted sand flies.   :D  We tried to book two nights but it seems there are no rooms available after tonight.  The agent advised that I should try calling in the morning to speak with the manager though. For dinner we found another Brew House in town called Speights Ale House where we enjoyed meat pie and lamb shank with our 8 beer sampler.

                        

Then we had a nice chat with Ryan's parents but not before having the longest shower of my life...because I could!   :)
  

*When I lived a sheltered life in Ontario, we never really went camping but we still had mosquitoes and I got bit many times.  However in BC, most of my friends are Asian and we've gone camping a fair bit.  There are always tons of mosquitoes but they don't come near me.  My friends, no matter Chinese, Japanese or Korean with their sweet smelling blood would finish off the weekend with welts the size of cookies on their arms and legs.  I always came away unscathed.   Not a single prick or itch.  Those days are gone out here.  I've got no suit of Asian Armour to protect me.  It's every 'almost-Asian' for herself.  The bug spray only slows them down a little.

*Btw, NZ's Fast Food commonalities are Burger King, KFC, Subway, Starbucks (duh), Domino's.  I'll let you know if we come across any more. 

Nov 23rd & 24th - Rabbit Island

I love Saturday mornings in NZ as there is always a market to visit somewhere and Nelson was no different.  They seem to be a little more difficult to find and of course they aren't half as big as they are at home but this will do for my fix.  We tasted sheep's milk products (milk, cheeses and yoghurt) which was surprisingly creamy.  As with any milk that is not cow, I found it a little "raw" but still quite enjoyed it enough to buy some of the stronger cheese to eat with our breakfasts for the next few days.  In the next isle over we were persuaded (by the Dutchman and his wife) to buy a warm, freshly fried, not too sweet but perfectly spiced Dutch doughnut which did not disappoint as we sat for a moment to enjoy (it really was only a moment because we scarfed it down) and then made our way around the square being sure not to miss each table, stand and vendor before deciding what we wanted to try next.  There were various sellers of clothing, vegetables, fruits, lots of exotic looking flowers (to us), wool slippers, hats and sweaters and yummy breads and meats galore.  We happened upon "Don Rodrigo The Artisan Baker" (not himself but the bakery) where they sold doughy breads and meat pies but one stood out for us. The venison cross pie! 
It looked so flaky and tasty we couldn't resist.  Wow!  I have to admit that I've been a little disappointed at some of the meat pies I've chosen (and if you've been reading, you know I have a knack for choosing the less awesome one) but this was to die for good!  The pastry was light and flaky yet buttery and
chewy; the filling was tender, rich and meaty with just the right amount of gravy.  I don't know why we didn't buy them all and eat 'em for breakfast lunch and dinner the next few days!  lol

We also spied a German meat shoppe and purchased a package each of cured beef pepperoni sticks and bratwurst sausages which we figured we'd eat for dinner that night, but we still needed to find a side accompaniment.  As luck would have it there was a Viennese women around the corner selling her homemade veggie strudels filled with zucchini, eggplant, peppers, spinach, olives and cheese.   A meal plan complete.
We still had most of the day (and our chilly bin); so looked up some touristy options to do and found Rabbit Island which was only about 40 minutes away.  Off we go with German pepperoni meat snacks at the ready!  As soon as we got on the highway it was at a standstill.  Two lanes merging into one because of an accident, flipped car in the ditch.  Yowza!  We finally made it through and we were once again on our way.  I was craving something fresh and fruity so Ryan promised we'd stop at the next fruit stand which ended up being in the back lane of a dusty gravel lot beside a huge farm.  It was a shack about the size of Mary's upstairs bathroom and had mostly veg until I noticed the strawberries.  They were so beautifully red and luscious looking.  Then the lady expressed how lovely they were and SOLD!  
Holy Crackers they were, no word of a lie, the best strawberries I've ever had.  Room temperature, soft and ripe with the perfect amount of sweet and tart!  We ate most of them on the road until we happened upon Seifrieds. 





The light bulb in our minds shined bright when we both realized we were in wine country!  How could we not stop in for a tasting?  We tried a few red Pinot Noirs which were just ok but the whites (Reisling, Chardonnay and Sauv Blanc) we tried were fruitilicious and *citrusy good.  So we bought two bottles making our 10 tastings each free!  I love this country!

We were at Seifrieds for a while chatting up the lady and when we told her where we were headed (Rabbit Island) she advised that we should drive a little further and check out another beach called Kaiteriteri that she thought was better.  Said the sand is gold and the water is super blue; only about another 30 minutes away.

We took her advice and ventured out further.  Glad we did because even though we thought we were *lost or going the wrong way a few times we stumbled upon some pretty amazing scenery.


Arriving at Kaiteriteri Beach we found the gold sand was like the color of light brown sugar and when you stepped in bare feet it had the texture of dark brown sugar squishing on the bottom of your feet and between your toes.  The water was crystal blue, but only warm enough to put your feet in, however there were some people swimming.  (Crazy people!)

We walked up and down the beach but it was busy so we hopped back in JCDV and took a drive back a bit towards the mountain bike park that caught Ryan's eye.  On the way we finally saw a Pukeko.  A blue, black and orange gawky looking bird that usually likes to dart out in front of you while you're driving.  I like to call them Peekaboo Pukeko.  Either way, a cool bird in my eyes.  (Sorry Shirl)


Even though we went to Kaiteriteri we still wanted to go to Rabbit Island.  It's a 13km long beach and wasn't sure if we'd have a chance to come back.  Since it was dinner time and we had all our camping gear and food with us we thought it would be fun to BBQ at the beach.  We drove around looking for a vacant spot and saw many families had the same idea.  But they were using the beach BBQ's that are neither coal or propane; and not a grill but a flat top.  Basically it looks like you fill the main compartment with wood pieces and light it on fire.  It heats the flat top which you can use tin foil on to cook.  So odd but it seems the norm here.  Here is a pic I found on the web, no idea who the guy is but that is definitely the BBQ. 


We were a little unsure so chose to use our little portable burner.  It was super windy and had to park the van in the way of the wind which worked out well.  We cooked our bratwursts and made a make-shift heater for the veggie strudels and enjoyed our dinner while sharing a beer on the beach.


Naturally we went for a walk after and enjoyed the sun setting on the beautiful view.  It seemed to go on forever (13 kms forever) and we noticed in the distance that it looked a lot like North Van.  Mind the fish tail...thought it was cool.  But look at the background.  :)

Such a beautiful day and once we got home we saw that a fairly large group of bikers (Harley type motorcycles) had set up camp not far from us.  They were quite loud and boisterous in their group and when they left in the morning (around 6:00am) they made no effort to be quiet, shouting and laughing about.  Their bikes were so loud we thought they may have driven right through our tent site.  When we got up that morning we realized our Sunscreen was missing.  I can't be sure but...  who knows...  :( 

Ryan went mountain biking not far from our campsite so while I drove out to go shopping, he held on to the side of the van for a ride.  Only in NZ.  Bless his heart!  lol


We met back at the camp ground but it was soooo buggy.  And when I say buggy I mean those blasted *SAND FLIES!!! GROSS!
To avoid them we went for a drink at a craft beer pub called The Vic where they had a wide selection of Mac's beers and a cider.  Decent!  Again we couldn't resist the beach so headed there for a walk and to watch the kite surfers!  They're pretty cool and there was a kid about Jacob's size practicing on the beach.  The wind nearly took him away a few times but his dad was there.  Too cute!  The Tahunanui Beach is ridiculously beautiful!!  Makes you want to stay longer but we knew the rain was coming and decided to take advantage of the sunshine and went to The Warehouse to buy a $10 badminton set and frisbee.  After dinner at The Vic (yes we went back) of calamari with lemon aioli, chicken wings with mint yogurt and spiced wedges with cheese, bacon sweet chili sauce and sour creme, we went back to the camp ground to play game badminton.  We spent most of the time laughing at how bad we are. Hilariously fun and I highly recommend it.  Plus it's fun to say 'shuttlecock'.   We had some more time to kill before bed and headed into the lounge to play cards and watch some of NZ's version of Got Talent.  That night when we went to bed the birds were so crazy loud and vocal.  So much so that they made you stop whatever you were doing to pay attention.  We actually had to raise our voices when we were talking.  It was like they were all having a conversation around us that was very important and not very hush hush.  We couldn't see them but pretty sure they were Tuis because of the distinctly loud clicking, clucking and whistling...and then it just stopped.  Like they had said all they had to say, and that was that!
Shuttlecock!  :-p

*The dictionary on this blog is trying to tell me that "citrusy" is not a word.  But I know that it is having used it many times in my 37 years most of which was probably used in the last 5.  But I Googled it to prove myself right and found the definition "having the flavor or smell of lemons, limes, or oranges; tangy, tart, etc." as per Webster's New World College Dictionary.  Just in case anyone was curious... I aim to please. 

*Ryan will no doubt have me clarify the "lost" or "going the wrong way" comment.  He'd probably want me to say something like.  "Ryan wasn't at all lost and knew exactly where he was going the whole time. But me, I'm so terrible at directions and constantly have no idea where I am or where I have to go."  Sadly all true...most of the time.

*SAND FLIES: like little vampires, they can smell you a mile away...and they wait patiently for you to expose an ankle or a foot...then they leech on to you..biting, sucking your blood. Oh it only hurts initially for a moment. But two days later you are reminded again of that little blood sucker...you are reminded for a good 2 weeks with constant itching and scratching. F**ckers!!!