Abel Tasman National Park

In the afternoon we arrived in the north of the South Island, where we settled directly at the national park at a nice campground (best spot again). There we spent the evening at the campground to be fit for the booked kayak tour the next morning.

The briefing for the kayaks was a bit lengthy and exaggerated, but then we went on the water. We spent the whole day paddling along the coast in the best weather, visiting secluded beaches and heading to the offshore islands, where we observed seals and their babies. In the afternoon, we were quite tired from all the paddling, but equally satisfied as we stranded and let the day end with a beer.

The cloudy weather then drove us towards Picton, where we spent the last night on the South Island on the farm Nadia desired. A cozy little place on a farm where we were greeted with homemade muffins and a bag of food for the sheep, goats, and pigs. The first thing we did was, of course, feed the sheep.. Nadia now wants one. 😛😉 then we took a walk to the nearby waterfall, which required us to walk through four cow paddocks and through a great forest. The cows looked surprised but did not want to be petted. Silly cows! 🐮 ;-)

In the late evening - after dark - we were drawn back into the forest, because that's where we were supposed to encounter glowworms. Armed with flashlights, we entered the forest, which is really dark at night. But it was more than worth it because we saw heaps of glowworms (and it was free;)! It was really amazing to see, truly impressive.. as if you were looking into a starry sky. Really cool! On the way back, we were almost run over by a possum... cute thing!

The next day we already went to the ferry that brought us to the North Island... relaxed crossing and now the goal is to explore as much as possible in just 8 days here. ((-: