After Lake Taupo we made our way down to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. Wellington is on the very south tip of the North Island and is quite a nice city of around 350,000 people. It reminded Nicola and I of a mix of Victoria with Downtown Vancouver. It's right next to the water and is a great little place but is also very expensive and very trendy. In the two days we were there we walked around the city, took the cable car to the top of the hill and walked down through all the parks and spent a day at the museum. Te Papa is the name of the national museum and it is huge, Nicola and I spent the whole day there, it's also free which is a nice bonus. From Wellington we took the ferry to Picton, on the very north tip of the South Island. From Picton we made our way to Nelson where we stayed two nights and spent a day at Abel Tasman National Park. The park is beautiful, it's absolutely incredible actually. We went a 13km hike along the coastline and then took a water taxi back to the start. Two people from our group were too slow and went missing but eventually turned up right at the end of the day, however they missed the bus and had to get a ride back from one of the tour operators.
After leaving Nelson we made our way down the west coast of the South Island. This is an awesome coastline, spotted with gorgeous beaches and other natural wonders. The one main attraction is the pancake rocks. They are limestone rock pillars along the coast that get battered by huge waves all day long. They appear to be stacked, just like a stack of pancakes which is where they got their name. After the pancake rocks our bus took us to Greymouth where we stayed the night and did a Brewery Tour followed by an all you can eat BBQ at a local pub. From Greymouth we continued south to the Franz Josef Glacier where we are staying another night. The Franz Josef Glacier and the Fox Glacier are quite close together. They are the only two glaciers in the world right now that are actually getting bigger. They are also unique in that they are so close to the ocean, just 5 km and they end only 250m above sea level. Because they end so far down the mountain they are very accessible to study and climb on. Tomorrow we are headed to Queenstown where we will stay for 5 nights. This is supposed to be a really awesome little town on the lakes edge. There are great bars, pubs and restaurants everywhere and the whole town is supported by adventure tourism and eco tourism industries. This is where you can literally do anything crazy and Nicola and I plan to go on the Canyon Swing and go up the river on a jet boat.
The view at Pancake Rocks
Truman Beach on the west coast
Pancake Rocks
Pourin' a brewski at Monteith's Brewery Tour
Beach in Abel Tasman Park
The beautiful turquoise waters at Abel Tasman
Beach at Abel Tasman National Park
Split Apple Rock seen from the water Taxi
Another Beach at Abel Tasman Park
The city of Wellington seen from the top of the hill