We woke up feeling refreshed and excited for the tour we had booked for
the day. We had scheduled an all day sailing adventure through
Abel Tasman National Park. We drove over to Kaiteriteri Beach to
check in for the start of our trip. There was a nice playground
there and we were a little early so Tyler got a chance to play for a
few minutes. They have some really cool equipment in New Zealand
that we don't have anymore in the US. I think it is due to the
way that New Zealand liability law works. Basically, your medical
bills are covered for any accident that occurs in New Zealand, but you
can't sue anybody for damages. This leads to all kinds of cool
playground equipment that would be too risky to have in America.
We saw some kids playing on a 'flying fox' (zip line) in the park and
dragged Tyler over to it. Erin made him sit down on the seat and
basically pushed him off. He was so afraid to try it, but once he
got done he absolutely loved it.
Tyler on the flying fox
We got on the sailboat around 10:00 and started off on our trip.
As
expected, we were immediately treated to some great views.
Beginning the sail
One of the first major sites was a rock formation called split apple
rock. This is a pretty unique rock that is quite aptly
named. We got lucky and there was one bird on each half of the
apple.
Split Apple Rock
Tyler
enjoying himself on the boat
How would you like to own that house?
I played around with the camera a
little bit and took some photos of
the sailing catamaran
Tyler was initially a little nervous as always, but he became more
comfortable with the boat and started having some fun.
Having fun on the boat
The weather was perfect and it was so calm and relaxing to be out on
the ocean sailing. Everybody was really having a great time.
Enjoying the day
We sailed around and got up close to a bunch of different islands.
Beautiful colored sea and neat looking islands
We even got to see a penguin! Our captain pointed the lonely little
penguin swimming far out to sea. It was the only penguin we saw
during out vacation in New Zealand.
Little Blue Penguin
We stopped for lunch at a nice protected cove with a sandy beach.
Tyler got a chance to play in the Tasman Sea.
Having fun at the beach
After lunch, the captain gave Tyler a chance to steer the boat.
Tyler at the rudder
We saw some more birds and fur seals out in the sun
Animals sunning themselves
We even got to see some of the famous New Zealand Green Mussels (which
are extremely tasty)
Green Mussels
We then headed over to a fur seal colony and got to see some really
cute baby seals
Fur seals looking cute
We then put up all of the sails and used the afternoon breeze to cruise
back to Kaiteriteri Beach. We went back to some of the areas we saw in
the morning and we were able to them again at low tide. There was
quite a difference from the morning.
Low tide
The sailing adventure was fantastic, but it was a big budget activity
as well. We went with this tour which cost $169NZ for adults and $85NZ for Tyler. It
included lunch and was a full day, but if your budget is tight, they
have shorter and cheaper options.
After we got back, we went to our rooms and relaxed a little before
dinner. We drove in to Marahau for dinner at Hooked on
Marahau. I had some mussels and we all tried Pavlova for
dessert. Pavlova is a meringue dessert with berries. It is
the national dessert of New Zealand and is really good. We've
since made it at home a few times and have really enjoyed it.
Dinner and dessert were good and we got to sit outside and enjoy the
sunset while we ate it. We spent another night at the Eden's
Edge Backpacker Lodge.
Continue to Day 7
Back to trip home
