Karamea Lodge Westport

... we got through the check-in fine and queued up waiting to board the Inter-islander ferry. Good job we got there early as they started to load a couple of mins after we arrived which caught a few of guard in the queue as they got out for a leg stretch or what not. Sweet as bro (locals say it alot) we were on board the ferry and found a comfy seat to kill the hour before even setting sail and as much of the 3 hour crossing as we could. We watched a film on the laptop ...

... Caitlin, Tom and me did the scenic beehive walk. On the way back we took some cool group photos and Kelli having to swim for her sandal that was floating away, we then got back on the bus. We went on a jetboat ride in the afternoon. An hour and a quarter of adrenaline filled, high-octane water-based action. The jetboat was quite good, we did some really great 360 degree turns, however I thought we were going to go a bit faster and expected it ...

We are back on the West Coast and getting rained on. We'll stay here for a day or two getting wet playing in caves (man, Aaron has a bad influence on me) checking out the Pancake Rocks and other fun stuff, maybe even swimming in the ocean (heck we're wet already!). It is quite pretty here if it didn't rain the whole time. We'll then head to Arthur's Pass National Park for about 5 days doing two, 2 day hikes. After that is a ...

... most corners. Out of range of radio, but that happened on most drives, having said that the classical music channel was always available, but we preferred to sing ourselves, than to listen to classical music! We arrived in the town of Fox Glacier where we spent the night, before waking early as planned the next morning to take a walk to Lake Matheson. However, the purpose of going to this lake early is to watch the sun rise and get a perfect mirrored reflection of the ...

... the stupid bus! it was really nice, got to a great view point and took some lovely pics!! saw tons of possum traps hahah! then back on the bus, where we got told about the jetboat tour that you could do on the buller river. it was really good value compared to queenstown, so i decided to book myself on it! it was a 1hr30mins tour, where on the way up the river we went quite slowly and had a bit of a history lesson about the river! it floods really badly and you could ...

... a half an hour drive saw us at Cape Foulwind where the largest natural seal colony is situated. These creatures are so funny to watch as they flop around the rocks and watching the pups run about is so cute!! You'll have to look ******* the piccys as they blend in with the rocks! After looking at the seals we were back on the bus to travel to Punakaiki and the Pancakes Rocks. The Pancake Rocks are a series of stratified limestone stacks which, over many ...

... Jeff
apparently runs some kind of coffee business all around the world, I
wish I asked what name now.

10:00 PM - Drunken off a bottle of
Cabernet Sauvignon at dinner, we settled in for the evening listening
to the crashing waves of the Tasman Sea outside.

... we went up to the old mining town of Denniston, at the top of its famous incline, a steep slope which was used to take the coal down in a operation fraught with all sorts of hazards. The coal is still there but the miners can now get up and down by road and the incline got too expensive to maintain, so even though mining still goes on the town has been deserted for some time. Somewhat surprisingly there are few houses left - turns out they took them with ...

... Tekapo bestaunt, sind zu Gletscherendschmelzen gewandert, wo die abgebroeselten Eisstuecke imposant wie Eisberge herumschwimmen, sind mit dem Hubschrauber auf dem Fox Gletscher gelandet und haben dort Eishoehlen durchwandert und sind durch Gletscherspalten geklettert. Klasse. Wir sind durch den Engen Haast Pass auf die isolierte Westkueste gekommen. Der Pass war extrem verregnet, so dass an den Haengen und am Strassenrand riesige Wasserfaelle aufsprangen ...