Sunday, February 7, 2010

The finger at martimony!

So, a conversation that has been had for millenia was had......"um we are driving through the tropical alps. The guild book says we should fill up with petrol as there is no station for 95 KM..." We have a 1/4 of a tank, We'll be all right"..."Hmmm the road sign says we should fill up, I think we should fill up"...."We'll be all right". 20 Kms into the trip the needle is almost done to empty" What? Oh the choke wasnt pushed in. SO on a beautiful yet breakneck turning, climbing and dipping road with no shoulder we puffed our way to the top. There was no time for anger or I told you so...MInd you Jeremie was overly smiley and nice throughout....WE made it to the peak..Thank you middle earth...and then it was " You steer and shift and I'll man the hand-break all the way down to the little village of Karamea. We coasted into the only petrol station for many Kms....Jeremie promptly had a stiff drink and went to bed. I dont know if he was more stressed by the drive or my reaction if we hadnt made it hmmm.

We are now in the sleepy village of Karamea among cows and nice kiwis. We toured the beautiful rainforests and caves of the Oparara Basin.....Huge old dense trees covered with moss. Stone arches and waterfalls. ITs exactly the place where I imagined that all my childhood fairytales played out. Especially Ronja Raeubertochter and Die Brueder Loewenherz.

Before KAramea we stopped outside of Westport and saw a Fur Seal colony. It was amazing to see wild mammals in their habitat. There were many pups and mother. Its still birthing season and some of the pups looked only a few days old...tiny for a seal. This was all for free in a national park. NEw Zealand has an EXCELLENT park service. PArks are everywhere and beautifully maintained.....Well off down the west coast to the south....

3 comments:

  1. Hey ol' folks! Sounds you enjoying yourself and only one week into your new life and all forgotten about your friends in Sydney. I was searching our mailbox for postcards, scared the mail man twice by stealing his bag and trying to find news from you. And then - I remembered you were going to blog your journey (stupid swiss cheese for brain). I'm glad you guys like NZ. Maureen and I would have spent another 3 vacation there - the south island that is. Have a wonderful trip and I'm scanning that blog now every day (so you better post) :-)). Our best wishes, M&M

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  2. Good lord; fur seal pups. This is awesome! I want to see pictures. :-)

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  3. Pictures are coming...unfortunetly though not of the seal pups :% They were to far away and blended in well with the rocks ( as they should). If we had a super bazooka camera it would been good but sorry no go. But enjoy the rest...Do you jnow how to upload multiple photos on to here?

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