We had a nice lie in as Manda was still feeling a bit ill. To wake us up we had a quick throw of the Frisbee and a fry up before we hit the road!
We headed north to the Abel Tasman National Park which is famous for its beautiful golden sand coastal bays and mountain walking. We drove as far as Kaiteriteri and stopped on the beach to admire the bay. The sun was shining and this was obviously a popular location with the tourists and the locals. There were plenty of people on the huge beach.
There were some funky toilets which were painted bright colours with beach and travel themes.
Just a few KMs further up the coast we were intrigued by a bay called ‘Split Apple Rock’ so we drove to the nearest point and walked the 20 minutes to the beach. When we arrived we were amazed and surprised by a small island of rocks just off the shore which had a very large boulder in the middle that was spilt perfectly in half – just like the name says!
We had never seen anything like it before. Strange yet stunning. At the same bay there was a maze of caves and caverns to be explored so we spent some time roaming around and enjoying the hot sunshine.
There were some funky toilets which were painted bright colours with beach and travel themes.
Just a few KMs further up the coast we were intrigued by a bay called ‘Split Apple Rock’ so we drove to the nearest point and walked the 20 minutes to the beach. When we arrived we were amazed and surprised by a small island of rocks just off the shore which had a very large boulder in the middle that was spilt perfectly in half – just like the name says!
We had never seen anything like it before. Strange yet stunning. At the same bay there was a maze of caves and caverns to be explored so we spent some time roaming around and enjoying the hot sunshine.
Happy with our adventure the national park we decided to head to the west coast to begin our journey to the far South. This was going to take the rest of the day as it was around 250kms and took in some twisty roads! We passed through Hope, Wakefield and Gowan River, which all reminded us of home. The road was simply stunning with twists and turns through huge mountains and deep gorges, following some powerful turquoise rivers. Gav enjoyed the drive while Amanda slept off the rest of her cold! We arrived at the small town of Westport and headed to a campsite at Carter’s beach. About an hour east of Westport we were driving through some dense forest when there was a large black animal ran across the road in front of us. Our first instinct was that it was a dog but we couldn’t recognise the breed. We were miles away from anywhere so were not sure what it was. When we got to the campsite we researched on the internet and it must have been a black leopard, which have been seen in that part of the country before – how amazing that we saw it.... and nearly run it over!!
Amanda redeemed herself for not doing any driving by cooking an amazing cottage pie which we were both well ready for! Staying at the campsite was a huge group of cyclists who were making their way around the island. This seems to be very popular here.
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