Abel Tasman National Park, South Island

After leaving the Lake Taupo area, we drove down to Wellington, stayed one night, and took the car on the ferry to make the three hour crossing over the Cook Strait to the South Island and then onward to the Abel Tasman National Park where we have stayed for three nights. It has been nice to stay put for a little while. We spend one day kayaking and walking in the park and another relaxing and shopping for the many arts and crafts of the area. 

We are about to head off towards Hamner Springs this morning but I thought I would just post a few random pictures from the trip.

We all took an all day kayak tour in the park. We met our guide at 830am, and took a 30 minute water taxi into the park (the only way in the park is by boat or walking). We kayaked out to a seal colony island and then down the coast a little ways. We then had a yummy cooked lunch on the beach and then headed off for a two hour walk on the coastal track. 

This is Mount Ruapehu which we got great views of driving down to Wellington. It is the highest peak in the North Island standing at 9175 feet. It is an active volcano that last erupted in 1995. There are a few ski fields on the mountain.

The above photo was taken on the Coromandel Peninsula. We went for a two hour hike into a deserted bay. It was a nice spot and good for picknicking with beer and salami sandwiches.

One of our many yummy dinners. We have been sampling a few of New Zealand's pizzas which very interesting toppings. This is the pizza I spoke of in an earlier post that had cashews, chicken, avocado, and cranberry sauce. The mussels were nice as well with a chili, garlic and white wine sauce. We had another pizza a couple nights ago with tandoori chicken, mango chutney, yogurt, and banana. It was tasty as well.

Georgie and I overlooking the Coromandel Town on the first day we arrived on our way to Kuaotuna and the Black Jack Lodge.