The Land Down Underer: Up The Coast pt 2

Sorry for the delay in posting the 2nd part of our trip north when we first arrived. Been busy with things like school and children etc. So I'm back (Andrew, incase you hadn't figure it out yet) with an update on the rest of our road trip from the first week in NZ.

Last time I got as far as the arrival at Kaiteriteri. It was a lovely little town, the kind that must be absolutely dead in the winter, but during the summer its filled with tourists and cottagers (or whatever the NZ equivalent to cottagers are). And when I say town what I really mean is a couple restaurants and a handful of shops. It's really quite quant.

The view of the town from our Cabin.

The place we stayed was called the Kimi Ora Spa...though it really wasn't much of spa, not sure why they called it that. It was a nice little place, good service, pretty rooms, and interesting attractions like glow work walks and bike trails.

The next day we opted to just hang out in town and check out the beach, we really weren't in the mood to drive anywhere after the full day of driving to get to Kaiteriteri, so this seamed ideal, that and Shary and I were pretty eager to get into the ocean as we hadn't had a chance yet since we arrived.

The Kaiteriteri West Beach

The Kaiteriteri East Beach

The next day we decided to check out Split Apple Rock. It was a bit of a hazardous drive to get there, and despite the listed speed limit of 100km/h we only went about 40. Anyone who drives that fast on those roads has a death wish.

View from the road on our way to Split Apple Rock

It was a short hike from the road to the beach that Split Apple Rock was located, about 10-15 minute walk through thick forest, but at a few points it provided a pretty nice view of the ocean.

There were also some remarkable looking ferns along the way too, not sure what they are called, but they created a really cool lighting effect on the forest floor.

Finally we arrived at the beach.

That a beach can be this beautiful and only be 10 minutes off the road and still be this deserted is remarkable. It was a saturday (or sunday, can't remember which) afternoon during peak season and there were maybe 8 other people on the beach.

Split Apple Rock

The following day we decided to go into Abel Tasman Park, a natural reserve on the tip of the South Island that is famous for its crystal blue waters and its golden beaches. We hopped on a water taxi, as by boat is the only way into the park.

The view from the boat on our way into the park

Abel Tasman has a whole series of beaches, some are only a few hundred metres long, others span a few kilometres. Each beach is connected by a series of trails and rivers with camp sites dotted throughout. You can choose to be dropped off at one end and walk back to the park entrance, or dropped at one beach and picked up at another, or even hang out for the day at just one beach. With the 2 kids, thats what we opted to do.

The beach was absolutely gorgeous. Truly remarkable. We just lounged, swam and then lounged some more.

The beach