His espresso machine is a bit older than ours at Joebella's! It was really cool!
That was the best latte I've ever had!
Scenes along the way to Wellington. This was out approximate Route.
Eating lunch in the rain!
Driving along the coast
Wellington Ferry! We checked our car back into the rental place. Sitting in the terminal, we felt an earthquake. We kinda looked at each other and around like, "Did you feel that? Is that what I think it was? Yep, sure enough, what should we do? What is everyone else doing? Just looking around. Hm, feels like home!"
We each had a backpack like this and I had my purse. That is all that we traveled with. I even brought things I didn't use!
The passengers boarded. It was such a familiar experience except a strange boat! We found this cozy corner and staked our claim next to the windows.
We got to see some of the scenery as we left. Unfortunately it was pretty late and we didn't get to see as much as we were hoping to. Also putting us into Picton late.
Found this nice corner to spend the time. It was a lot of fun sharing a ferry experience with Matthew! It was such a part of my childhood, so many fond memories. Thankfully he didn't get sick and enjoyed it very much!
The next day we headed from Blenheim to Takaka on South Island.
After winding way up the side of a hill, we stopped at a look out.
These rocks were very interesting.
What a view!
Strange power outlets! Several times I tried to charge my phone or boil an electric kettle only to realize I hadn't turned the plug on! I think it is pretty smart concept though!
Our Airbnb in Takaka. This place was a little interesting. It took some exploring to find the toilet! We had to open a door, go down a hall, through the shower/sink/laundry room, through her kitchen, out the back door, across the back stoop and behind a curtain is the toilet!
She had beautiful flowers though!
Matthew found a short hike to do, so we set out to find it, driving along the beach.Wainui Falls. I hadn't seen any pictures of this and when we came around the corner and could see the falls, it took my breathe away.
A little up close and personal with some New Zealand nature!
The giant fern trees really gave it a tropical, rainforest feel.
And the first of many swinging bridges!
A kind couple offered to take our picture. For some reason this is one of my favorites of us on the trip.
We had a bit of a wait for our food but these scrumptious fries verified that it would be worth the wait. Matthew got pizza and I got a salad with all kinds of local stuff on it.
The next day we drove a long ways on a dirt road to get to Abel Tasman camp ground. Then we hiked northwest on the track for a few miles. This is iconic New Zealand territory here! I was a bit disappointed that it was a bit chilly and quite windy so no kayaking or swimming.
Love this one^
A new fern coming out on a fern tree.
We go a long a beach, climb up into the trees, around a point, and then back down onto a beach. I think we crossed three before turning back.
For some reason the New Zealand air, or food, or water, or SOMETHING got to me and I was full of puns and quips. Some of my best memories are hiking along punning back and forth, laughing, shaking our heads at each other, and groaning. Oh and the smaller backpacks we had for hiking fold into a little pouch that stuffed easily into our traveling backpacks.
Almost back to Takaka we stopped at this lookout. It had a monument honoring some people and a lovely view besides being quite chilly.So there's another few days! It rained the next day when we drove up to Mistaken Point, but we do have a few pictures I'll start with next time.
