So it has been about two weeks since we left Nelson, and life is good. We started our travels in the picturesque town of Kaikoura. located about three hours south of Nelson on the east coast of New Zealand. The drive down was full of beautiful and breathtaking scenery, which we would soon realize was going to be a standard part of our driving escapades. About twenty minutes outside of Kaikoura, we stopped to see a colony of seals just hanging out by the side of the road. It was incredible. We stayed in a quaint hostel with a porch overlooking the crystal blue water of the Pacific Ocean, courtesy of Katie’s Let’s Go NZ book (the most wonderful book in the world). The first evening, we made pizza, played cards, went to a local bar for trivia (didn’t Win), and then went to bed early to be well energized the next morning for the first true day of our traveling adventure. The next day, we went for a wonderful walk around the Peninsula that makes up the coastal border of Kaikoura. We also went on a short hike to a waterfall where literally about one hundred baby seals were swimming and playing! The whole day was unbelievable and the weather was perfect. To top it off, on our morning walk, we ate seafood chowder and fresh scallops and fish from a BBQ seafood stand on the side of the road!

The next day, we sadly said goodbye to Kaikoura and headed on a four and a half hour drive to the west coast. We arrived early that evening in the town of Punikaiki, home of the famous Pancake Rocks. On the drive over, we called and arranged to stay at the Rain Forest Retreat, which now looking back is our favorite hostel so far. It was adorable with clean china, available spices for cooking, and fresh baked goods. We made grilled cheese with tomatoes (a new favorite of Lindsay’s), store bought seafood chowder, and salad for dinner. The next day, we naturally visited the pancake rocks and also went on a short walk through what could best be described as the rain forest. We ended up staying another night at the hostel because we liked it so much. The night was filled with cards, laundry, and discussion of our future plans.

Hokitika was the next stop. We stayed at the birdsong hostel, where every room was named after a different bird of New Zealand. It was cute and educational at the same time! We were the Kea room. As we had come to realize by that point, if we could get a room to ourselves for a little more money than a standard dorm price, that was the way to go. The reasoning behind this is simply because we just have TOO MUCH STUFF! Even now, as I am writing this blog entry, I am looking at the floor below my bed and wondering what we were thinking. Our arrivals at the different hostels across New Zealand have been greeted with the same puzzling stares of fellow backpackers as we make our third trip to get stuff out of the car. Moving back to Hokitika, during the day, we walked around the town and then had a picnic on the beach for dinner while watching the sunset. We concluded the evening by attending the movie “BOY” (the number one New Zealand comedy ever) in a historic local theater in which the standard movie seating was replaced my couches and lazy boys! The next day, we traveled from Hokitika to Franz Josef glacier for a day adventure. We decided to do the half-day guided tour and were not disappointed. The glacier was unbelievable, both in spectacle and overall physical experience. We took a lot of amazing pictures!

The next stop on our journey is Arthur’s Pass and then four days in Christchurch. Until next time….