Final Farewell

In 2 days now we will be heading back to the United States. I'm both happy and sad. Sad to leave the beautiful, serene, islands of New Zealand, but also happy to see friends, family again. (also my bed) The think that I will miss most about New Zealand is the scenic views over the estuary of mountains and grassy hills. My favorite memory was the time our family spent at Rabbit island, sand castles, cartwheels, tepees, and daring my sister to lay down in the freezing water. Also hikes at Abel Tasman, farewell spit, and many others. On one of our last days we went to Rabbit island and my sister and I built faerie houses, another day we went swimming, or just drew pictures in the wet sand. Today we stayed at the house most of the day, built a fire, and played outside, then in the afternoon we went to Rabbit island and played in the sand. Overall, New Zealand has been one of the best experiences of my life and I think it has brought our family a whole lot closer.  

Trip to Golden bay

The following days we took an overnight trip to Golden bay about two hours from where we are staying in Mapua. We started off at about 11:00 and started driving on the windy roads up the mountainside. It was a spectacular view of blue mountains, treetops, and the wide valley below. We drove until we got to a little town called Takaka. We ate at a cafe, than we walked around the town for a little while before continuing. Soon we came to Golden bay where we stopped at a little shop for chocolate, after that we drove around the town a bit. It was getting late so we found a campground that rented cabins so we got a seaside cabin for the night. (later found out BIG MISTAKE!) We got in the cabin and it was awful. The floor was cement with chipped paint and there were spots of mold on the wall. There were two sets of bunk beds, with no blankets and a big bed. Since my dad had been snoring he and my sister slept together in the big bed. I got top bunk and my mom and brother took the other two bottom bunks. Might I add that it was FREEZING. Just to warm it up we had to turn on the stove burners and a tiny little heater which we all gathered around. The gas station store was closed so we walked over to a little cafe across the street. It was just what we needed, it had a warm fire place and sofas with books. We got hot chocolate and after we ate, Gabe played with a cat that was sitting on a chair and I read about the titanic. After we left we started walking back to the cabin. My dad, Isabel, and Gabe went for a walk on the beach while my mom and I read our books. When we woke up Isabel and I took a walk on the beach and than went to go get snacks at the gas station. When we came back we found that my mom caught a cockroach under a cup. (she left it where the owners could see it) I also left them a note, which mom made me throw away, but I put it face up in the trash. ha ha ha. After we left we headed up the road to a cafe to get breakfast. Then we went up to a trail where we would hike to a lighthouse. It was a beautiful trail with grassy hills and great scenery, the lighthouse was a bit of a disappointment considering it was no more then a piece of medal attached to a light bulb. The next hike we went on was one of the best hikes ever! It went into different pens like for sheep, and cows but then it came to a beach, the beach was amazing there were pretty big sand dunes (not as big as the ones in Colorado) and a little pool with baby seals playing in it. they were adorable like little puppies with fins. They would dive and jump and play with each other and they would waddle across the sand to get to a little cove. A few times they came up and touched you. one also chased Gabe because he got in the way when it was trying to get to the cove. They would inch there way up to you and sniff you toes. They were very cute. once we left Isabel, Gabe, and I went to the top of a sand dune and started jumping off them. We didn't get very far but we had competitions to see who could jump the farthest. Finally, we had to go we started hiking back in our bare feet since some of the path was sand. Once we got back we started to drive back to Mapua. On the way back we stopped at a little pathway which led to different cave like paths, my brother and I climbed up into some. It lead to a big 30ft rock which Gabe, my dad, and I rock climbed up. it was really tough getting down mostly because Gabe kept trying to get us to go down a steep edge onto a post, soon my dad found a different way. on the way back we made our last hiking stop we went up a hill to see the Abel Tasman memorial. It was not very impressive except for the spectacular scenery of the ocean, mountains, and a sunset. overall it was worth it. Our last stop was at a restaurant on the way back where we got food and ice cream. Then we headed back to our cottage in the orchard, there we made a fire and went to bed.