Start of the South Island Adventure

February 23
My official race time: 2:23:08. I placed 1372 out of 1976 half marathon runners.

I mentioned that I spent lots of time people watching on the waterfront in Wellington. I had to walk over a bridge to get there. The railing on the bridge had locks on them, some had names, dates, sayings on them. Theses locks are known as "love locks". By putting a lock on the bridge, you're locking that special love in forever.

I woke up and got myself all ready for the ferry. I had to be there at 9:30 am for the 10:30 am ferry sailing. So giving myself a bit of extra time, I headed off at 8:30 am in case I got lost again.

Guess what.....Chateau Jucy won't start. It's called a "flat battery" (I myself call it "dead"). So I head into the motorhome office to see if I could get a jump start. "No, sorry Miss" was what I got. So I walked over to the Police station across the road and told them that I had a ferry to catch and I think my battery was "flat". Roscoe, the police officer, was kind enough to help a damsel in distress (or like my kids call me.... the old hippy lady). So.... here I sit in the ferry parking lot eating cold pizza for breakfast!!! What the heck has happened to me????

As I loaded onto the ferry, I noticed that there is only a bow and a stern. So when the cars are loaded, they go in one side and turn around to face the same way you drove in (basically in a U). There are 5 car decks and 2 passenger decks. Deck 7 is there general area, kids play area, and a small cafeteria. Deck 8 is the outside deck on one half and the other half is the bar/cafe. The ferry sailings have been known to be quite rough, there are sea-sickness bags located everywhere on the ship. I met 2 wonderful couples (one from Germany and the other from Australia).

Off the ferry I headed straight for Abel Tasman National Park. Abel Tasman is NZ's smallest national park. This is an awesome place to sea kayak and tramp (hike). There are many different hikes you can do, a few hours, a few days, even a few weeks.

Instead of stopping at Kaiteriteri, I decided to keep going to Pohara (Golden Bay). The roads were unbelievably windy. I drove up and down many mountains to get there.... travelling for a total of 5 hours. Checked in and settled into camp. Had a quick dinner and headed out to walk Pohara Beach. The sand stretched for miles and miles, the tide was way out, and the stupid seagulls kept following me. Pohara Beach reminds me of Rathtrevor Beach, the way you can walk for miles and miles when the tide is out. The sunset was spectacular!

Feb 24
Woke up with the idea I would explore Golden Bay for a few hours before heading into Kaiteriteri. Ready to go.... started up Chateau Jucy..... she was tired. "Flat" battery again. So this time, I called Jucy Travel. I had to drive back 2 hours to Moteuka (past Kaiteriteri) to go to a mechanic. So off I go without seeing Golden Bay. I sat at the mechanics for 1.5 hours waiting,,,, they replaced the battery.... and I was on my way again! Back to Kaiteriteri for a 1 pm boat cruise/hike in Abel Tasman. The trip was very windy and cold, but once there and hiking.... I got pretty warm.

I hiked out to the waterfalls and a swing bridge. Some of you know that I am afraid of heights so going over the swing bridge twice is quite a feat! Barks Bay is beautiful, golden sand beach, beautiful blue water, kayaks.... heaven!

Feb 25
Spent the morning enjoying Kaiteriteri beacch. Had to stop at the mechanics on the way to because they didn't hook up the fridge or any of the inside lights.

My destination today is Punakaiki (Pancake Rock and Blowholes). The rocks look like enormous stacks of pancakes. These limestone rocks have been sculpted by wind and sea water over millions of year. The blowholes perform best around high tide.

After I settled in I headed to Punakaiki beach (just off the campsite). It was beautiful, miles and miles of beach. It was a rock beach, the rocks were all so smooth from the tide. Beautiful rock formations and mist from the big waves hung over the beach.

After dinner, I headed back down to the beach to watch the most amazing sunset I have ever seen. This sunset was a special one.... today marked the 2nd anniversary of Rob's passing, Gerald's friend, who also died of a brain tumour. As I sat and watched the sun go down, like it does everyday, I remembered a great man with a big, big heart. He is missed and loved everyday by so many people, especially his wife, daughter and grandchildren. Miss you my friend.

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Feb 26
Up early and on the road.... going to see two glaciers! Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier. New Zealand's West Coast is just stunning.... every turn a bay, a beach.... The weather was cloudy and rainy most of the day.

Both glaciers are the most accessible in the world. I walked 5 km from the car park to the terminal face (approximately 500 m) of Franz Josef Glacier.

Fox Glacier is only 30 mins away by car. Fox is 13 km long and it comes closer to sea level than any other temperate region glacier in the world. I walked in from the car park to the viewing point (which was steeper than the Great Wall in China!). The terminal face was approximately 200 m away from the viewing point. By the time I got to Fox Glacier, the top had clouded over and it had started to rain. I am going to try to visit Fox tomorrow on my way out of town.

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I'd like you meet my new friend, we met while I was hiking up to Fox Glaciers. He's very friendly and greeted everyone with a smile.