Since leaving Canterbury we travelled south through Oamaru (saw some yellow eyed penguins), Dunedin (went to Speights brewery and did a lot of beer tasting), Owaka in The Catlins (saw a sea lion on the beach -it was enormous), Curio Bay (further in The Catlins). Then came back up to Queenstown (did paragliding off Coronet Peak mountain), went skiing for 3 days on the Remarkables ski field, went to Wanaka to see our friend from 1770 and then came up to Franz Josef on the West Coast. The West Coast is very green and tropical looking with the snowy mountains too. Today we went on a hike on Franz Josef Glacier which was really amazing.
WE have travelled up the west coast which has been amazingly beautiful and very green - more tropical, with lots of rainforest which comes straight down to meet the sea. After leaving Franz Josef we went to Hokitika - a very small town where very expensive jade is carved. WE also stayed at a very small place called Punakaiki which was really beautiful. It only had about 7 houses and our hostel was right on the beach which was lovely, especially as it was warm and sunny that day. Saw some famous rocks that are huge and look like stacks of pancakes - they are called Pancake Rocks. We also saw a load of seals too which was good.
The other really beautiful place we stayed at was in the Abel Tasman national park: a tiny place called Marahau. We walked along the coastal track - still no dolphins. lots of rainforest. We went horse riding which was good (for rich). But the bloke was pretty intolerant with people who couldnt ride (me), which was just great hmmmm. We got to ride on the beach and got soaked going through a river but my horse was pretty good which was a relief!
We are in Nelson today which is the biggest place we have seen in quite a while!
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