Kayaks and Head Banging

We left to head towards Motueka on the 30th.  We planned to drive up about 6 hours to Motueka and then camp 2 nights. While there we were going to do a big kayaking trip and didn't have much else planned. Then on the 1st we planned to drive back down and along the west coast to see a wonder of the world, Pancake Rocks, and stay for the night in Greymouth. In Greymouth we didn't have much planned except our hostel and maybe a Monteiths Brewery tour.  On the 2nd we would head home through the mountains through Arthurs Pass.  Along the way we wanted to stop there and do a waterfall hike and then stop at Castle Hill (where some of Lord of the Rings was filmed!!!) and check out the boulders before we headed home.

The normal drive up was via the east coast of NZ. But we decided to do a different route and go up through the middle of NZ through the mountains because Andrew had never done that drive.  So off we went in to the mountains. It wasn't till we hit the mountains that we remembered the weather forecast and started to regret our decision.  Sunny on the east coast...rain in the mountains. Not sure what we were thinking. It was still absolutely beautiful though! We stopped for lunch at Mangarata (I think) and had some 'rubbish fish and chips' as Andrew said...but on the plus side...I did find an Andrew coke :)

After lunch we continued on until we hit Motueka around 5 or 6pm.  Its a small town, close to the coast.  We were staying at Fernwood Holiday Park. Cute little campsite with very nice people running it.  We parked at our spot and started setting up our site. We had a horrible tent...and horrible NEW air mattress that deflated on us...and barely fit in our little tent. But we really didnt care too much. Well, Andrew did get very angry at the tent poles. Scared the neighbors. But whatever, we got it up haha.  After setting up the tent we went to the grocery store for some food for the night and for breakfast the next day.  We ended up with local beer, Mac's, some granola bars, some chips and my craving of the night, salami and cheese. I think I was needing it because its our Hofland tradition to have pea soup and good cold cuts for dinner Christmas Eve...so I had to go at least half way and get the cold cuts ;) After that we walked to the beach where there wasn't really a beach...but there was a neat pool that was made with sea water in it. Interesting. Then we walked back, ate some salami and cheese, drank a few beers and went to bed.

The next morning was an early one.  We got up around 7am to catch our 8am bus to Marahau where we were going to kayak with Abel Tasman Kayaking. We got the "Soul Food" trip...4 hours of kayaking with lunch and a guide and what turned out to be pretty nice weather! We started by going up towards Fishermans Island, skimming the coast.  Then we cut over to Adele Island, a natural reserve for bird wildlife :) They even used to have kiwi birds there for a while, putting them there to help them survive in the wild without predictors to attack them.  The kiwi bird is native to NZ, but when the Maori and English came over and brought predators and burnt down forests, they started to become extinct because over time, the kiwi birds lost their ability to fly because they didn't need to escape anything.  NZ was a predator free island with mostly birds.   Now there aren't any officially wild kiwi birds...they are working hard to bring back the population of them though as best they can.  It's just hard when they don't have many natural defenses anymore.

We stopped on Adele Island for a little break and ended up losing one of our dutch (way to represent goon) trip goers to the wild bush..he went off on a hike through unmarked woods, got lost, and held us alllll up. Rude. BUT...if he wouldn't have held us up we would have never seen the baby seal over in the rocks! Andrew heard it and so we went over to see what it was...the cutest seal popped its head out to see us! ADORABLE! I melted. It was cryiiing and crying for its mom. It was all alone. The guide didn't seem worried so we weren't either.  The next stop was Watering Cove for lunch (picture above of us in our snazzy kayaking outfits). We had lamb tortillas with potato salad and chocolate cake for dessert :) Not bad! We hung out, re-grouped and then off we went back around the outside of Adele Island.

After we got around our guide decided that since we were super quick on our first half of the trip, we would lollygag a bit before heading back. When we finally decided to head back the wind and weather took a turn. The wind went in the opposite direction of us, kicking big waves in our faces. It was so difficult to paddle! I was soaked! And couldnt see...yay contacts. I was miserable. Thank God we made it.  I almost gave up haha. And almost killed Andrew in the process for not paddling in sync with me...grr. But we made it to the end, covered in water and mostly salt.

We bused back to the campite and took a nice 50c hot shower and decided to go out with Andrew's sister, who happened to be in town for a New Years Eve rock concert by Shihad (and various other artists I've also never heard of).  We figured, its better then nothing, and tagged along. Wasn't my typical concert. But it was a lot of fun pretending to be an avid headbanger ;) New Years hit and the concert pretty much ended. We were back in our beds for a much needed rest after the long day we had...and our air mattress didn't deflate tooooo bad.

Happy 2013! Next trip was to Greymouth...

Merry Christmas? In Summer?

Christmas in New Zealand is a strange time.  It's definitely different from the US typical Christmas...I see the consumerism (definitely not as extreme) but the Christmas spirit is a bit, ehh. Andrew swears Christmas music was playing in stores...I never heard it. And the town is nicely lit up at night, but no ones houses have lights. Tree's are downplayed. No caroling. No ice skating. No hot chocolate with peppermints (though Andrew tried very hard to get that for me...mean lady closed the grocery store right as he was trying to get in and turned him away). No Christmas movies. A horrible selection of decor and wrapping paper. It isn't a bad thing...it was just, differently focused. They focus more on the family getting together then anything else.

The Christmas celebrations started on Sunday the 23rd with a lunch with Andrews family at his Nanny's (grandmothers).   I met quite a lot of people...I had already met his nanny a few times now but I also got to meet her partner and then Andrew's two Aunts and their families (one with 2 kids and the other with a whopping 6!) and Amanda's daughter Amber and her boyfriend. It was a lot of fun, but definitely made me miss home. I miss big Christmas celebrations with all the family :(

Christmas Eve was definitely different. Andrew's family actually invited some friends over to play chukka's.  So I worked a bit and then went out to watch everyone play in the afternoon.  It was a bit boring in comparison to usual...I was on one side of the field and they spent most of their time on the opposite. I ended up taking lots of sheep pictures ;) They're pretty cute. Andrew did look slick in his gear though. He was riding on "Coke" in this picture. The lovely horse with a heart on her head. She's pretty awesome at the polo thing...Andrew was excited to get to ride her rather than one of the 'green' new horses.  At the end of the day there were no Christmas movies or songs...just normal tv.  We did end up watching "Mrs. Brown's Boys" Christmas episode. We had already seen it, but timing was appropriate.  That show is FANTASTIC and hilarious! I know my family and friends back at home would die...so funny.

On Christmas Day we had celebrations at Andrew's dad's house.  It was a ridiculously hot day, but beautiful outside! Andrew's Nanny and her partner came again and then Amanda's son came with his fiance and 3 adorable kids (that came to polo with us a bit back).  Having the kids there was a lot of fun.  It really made it seem like Christmas.  Even though we didn't watch a single Christmas movie or listen to any Christmas music... grr...Oh well.  Food was absolutely delicious and filling...definitely thought I was going to explode. I thought we would do a few things outside, because that's what they normally do (Nanny was playing twister with the kids last year apparently) butttt everyone said it was too hot.  They haven't seen Raleigh hot! haha
 The surprise of the day was Ashley's present to her dad and Amanda...a kitten!! They named her Slippers :) Totally adorable and entertaining. The rest of the day was spent mostly watching a darts tournament on tv...which seems to take up a lot of spare time here haha...and laying around with a fullllllll belly!

The next day was Boxing Day...a big holiday here in NZ.  It's called that because you 'box away' all of the Christmas stuff. But everyone just goes to horse races and drinks a lot instead haha. It was a horrible day for it. Quite cold and the sky was covered in dark clouds.  We decided to dress up anyways but I forgot to take a picture of my great dress :( I spent most of the day in a blanket though.  Earlier in the morning Andrew and his sister went to set up the tent we would sit at.  Around noon we all left to head to the races.  It was pretty fun considering the crap weather! It was my very first horse race...and my very first time betting! Andrew and I bet each time...sometimes losing (normally losing) but other times we won! We actually ended the day making a bit of a profit! About 15 bucks but hey...on top!

After the races we went out for the evening to celebrate, as New Zealanders do.  There was a pub near to the race track so everyone went there.  We stayed out till about 10 and then Andrew and I (being the old people we are) got hungry and wanted to leave.  So we picked up a pizza from Pizza Hut and headed home just in time to watch the second half of Contagion the movie.

Not a bad holiday time at all :) Different...very different...but it was fun. Definitely missed everyone at home a whole lot.  All of my family and our fun Christmas traditions. But hey, I've got next year! Now that we've survived the end of the world and all ;)

Next trip is New Years in the north part of the NZ South Island, Motueka, and then a drive back down the West Coast past Pancake Rocks and Greymouth. Then through Arthurs Pass and Castle Hill to get back home to Ashburton. Super excited!