Entries about atnp

Day 1
We were finally on our way to the ATNP, an area we were very excited about visiting.
The morning had a very moody atmosphere due to the low clouds and a bit of fog, which made it pretty cool to drive through.

Our next stop was one I was very excited about, as we were driving up to Cape Foulwind to see a seal colony. I still have not got bored of all the wildlife that you can see in New Zealand. The beach was also beautiful but the best bit was seeing the seals, including some young ones which were playing in the water. We also saw quite a few Weka although they did their best to avoid my photos as much as possible.

We drove on, stopping along the way, where I got this photo of the Buller river.

We stopped at a Maruia Falls.

We also visited Lake Rotoiti, one of the Nelson lakes, and it was quite a nice break. I could imagine spending a week in the area just visiting the different lakes.

We finally made it to our lodge for the night, Kanuka Ridge, at 5pm. The people there were absolutely lovely, and very talkative. Stu helped us book our tours in the ATNP the next day, giving us some fantastic advice as it might have been rough. It was just such a friendly feeling that I had to mention him.

Day 2
Today was our day in the Abel Tasman National Park, a day we were really looking forward to, in an area that has a critical water shortage due to months of little/no rain, and we woke up to drizzle and rain! Laura and I had different plans for the day, as Laura wanted to walk part of the track back to Marahau, whereas my foot had been bugging me since the Catlins, so I just did a boat trip up and down (as I hadn't really rested it for the trip so thought that might help). Thanks to Stu's advice the previous day we had booked to get the water taxi from Kaiteriteri as it was a bigger boat. This was definitely good advice as even though it wasn't too bad today, one of the staff members said that the previous day they had had quite a few seasick passengers and hadn't been able to get past Awaroa due to the swells!
Whilst it would have been great to at least walk a small section of the park, at least I got to see it on the boat. The rain and drizzle definitely did not stop me from going out on the deck to take photos. The beaches and water were beautifully coloured (and the water was so clear), and I imagine on a sunny day it would look just as spectacular as the promotional photos!