After a long year of honours, and not doing much fun together outside of the occasional TV break, Mark and I decided to hire a wonderfully colourful campervan and drive around the South Island of New Zealand.
I’m going to keep my stories about this trip mainly explained by photos. Click on the photos to see the captions that elaborate on the visuals.
In essence, New Zealand is amazingly beautiful and we had a wonderful time. For example, we made a toilet stop at Kaikoura, where we stumbled across snow-capped mountains, pebbly beaches, turquoise water and seals. A toilet stop!
Windy road heading into Kaikoura
How often are snow-capped and turquoise water visible in one view? Enter Kaikoura.
Our hippy van “Sunny” looking out over Kaikoura.
We were driving along trying to spot a seal…
We saw one seal
And then they were everywhere!
Chilling out at Kaiteriteri beach with our awesome van
Kayaking toward Abel Tasman National Park
Split Apple Rock – the third most photographed rock in the world… so here’s another one.
Mark, a cave and crystal blue water
Hello split apple rock (or “split epple” as our guide said).
Weaving through rock caves
Caves and clear water
Little prawns in rock pools
On a lovely round rock!
Our kayaks chilling on the golden beach.
The beaches are golded because of rusted iron in the soil
Another photo of that famous rock
Cuddle on the beach, view from our van
Driving up Takaka Hill – hill?! It’s 791m high!
A beautiful Fox Glove that lines the already beautiful landscape.
Meseemeese 