We woke up at 6 to catch the sunrise, and boy, what a sunrise it was! The whole sky lit up like fire and the red clouds were so bright they reflected off the water. It was absolutely stunning. After taking some photos, we packed up our kayak and head out for an early start. We had a pretty far distance to cover.

Our first stop was at a beach called the Anchorage. It was quite crowded with a lot of boats parked out front. But it was nice. We refilled our water and then continued. Next we kayaked past Adele Island. We saw quite a few seals hanging out here. We wanted to stop on the beach at Adele Island, but seemingly it was not present at high tide.

We continued to Appletree beach, which was nice, but crowded. This is where I took a small nap. After that we paddled back to Marahau. It was low tide, so the tractors were pulling boats all the way to a buoy in the water. We returned our gear and then began our 4 hour drive to Punakaiki.

The drive was lovely. The most beautiful spots were next to the Buller River and then along the coast near Punakaiki. We stopped in Westport for groceries, gas and dinner. We ate at PortSide Restaurant, where we had some green mussels. We made the drive to our Airbnb with the last few minutes of daylight. The Airbnb was just a shack on the beach with no internet and no electricity and an outhouse, but it was in a beautiful location. The owner, Blaze came by to orient us, then he helped us start a bonfire. We watched the stars while letting the fire burn out, and then went to bed.

We woke up early to make it to Marahau by 8:30 for our kayaking trip. We got there about 30 minutes early, so I was able to have a coffee. After that the guy at the kayak place gave us a brief safety lesson. Then we had to wait a bit until the water taxi would take us to our starting point.

While we were waiting, we got into a discussion with the two other groups in our water taxi. They were both traveling a lot longer than us, and the discussion turned to the topic of Chinese tourists. The conversation became quite uncomfortable when the British guy started shouting in fake Chinese. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Finally, the water taxi showed up. It was being pulled by a tractor. We got in the boat, then we were put in the water. The taxi ride lasted about 20 minutes and then we got dropped on this long golden beach. We loaded up our kayak and headed out. We started by heading north, but the winds were strong so we turned around and headed to a little island. We saw one seal on the island. Next we headed further south to another large beach. Here we pulled ashore and went for a swim then took a nap in the sun. It was very relaxing.

We made our way to our campsite at Mosquito Bay. It was a lovely little site with gorgeous views. It is only accessible for not so it was not as crowded as some of the other sites. We picked our campsite and then realize we had forgotten our pot so we had to ask a neighbor camper to use theirs.

After dinner we were exhausted, so we head to the tent and went to sleep.

Still felling jet lagged, I woke up at 5:20, but I didn’t use the time productively. It wasn’t until 8 that I finally got out of the hotel. The first stop was Zumo Coffeehouse for a flat white. After drinking the coffee, I made my way back to the waterfront and down to Clyde Quay to shoot some photos.

After a little walk, we checked out of the hotel and made our way to the meeting point for the food tour we were taking. We informed our guide that we had to leave a little early and she said no problem. The first stop on the food tour was the Mojo coffee roaster. I got my second coffee of the day while learning about their roasting process.

The next stop on the tour was gelatissimo; a gelato shop on the waterfront. A little early for ice cream but it was so delicious I did not complain. After eating the ice cream, we head to a grocery specializing in local goods for a cheese plate. It was pretty tasty.

The final stop on the tour was a chocolate factory. This part of the tour was a little rushed as we had to leave to catch our ferry, but the guide was very accommodating. We called an Uber, went back to the hotel to pick up our bags and then got dropped at the ferry terminal.

The ferry ride was stunning. Once out of Wellington, the skies cleared up and it was a beautiful day. Though sunny, the winds in the strait did force us inside for 45 minutes, but it was really hot when we went back out in the fjords. After 3.5 hours, we landed in Picton. Disembarking was a little disorganized. We had to take a bus to pick up our bags and then get back on the bus to go back to the ferry terminal to pick up the rental car.

After getting the car, we began our driving on the left hand side! Dennis drove the two hours to Nelson. We got in just in time for golden hour. We dropped our stuff at the Airbnb and walked into town for our reservation at Hopgoods. Dinner was phenomenal. We ate beef tartare, lamb and pork belly. All cooked perfectly. After dinner we walked around the town and then walked back so we could get up early for our kayaking trip.

After a 12+ hour flight, I finally touched down in New Zealand! I was excited and happy, but my journey wasn’t over yet. After making my way through customs, I had to catch a connecting flight to Wellington. Auckland has an odd airport layout, so catching the connection required a 10 minute run through the rain. I made it through security with plenary of time, however, since my flight got delayed an hour and a half ?

After about 50 minutes in air, I landed in Wellington, and hopped in an Uber to my hotel: the QT Museum. After dropping some bags, I headed off to find some coffee. My walk led me to Fidel’s on Cuba Street. We got a latte and a smoothie and then walked up Cuba Street to the waterfront.

Wellington is such a cute little city with many shops and restaurants. It’s excellent for walking and has a really interesting mix of architecture. It really feels like a very liveable city.

We walked along the waterfront back to the hotel, where we moved our bags into our room. Next stop was the museum across the street: the Te Papa Museum. It is a huge museum with very in depth information about everything from the history of the Maori to the ancient fauna of New Zealand. There was a special exhibit about New Zealanders in World War I with these huge lifelike sculptures. Awesomely, the museum is free! (Donation optional)

After the museum, it was time for dinner. I had heard of a restaurant called Monsoon Poon before arriving and I wanted to check it out. It’s a South and South East Asian Restaurant with Excellent cocktails. We had a lovely meal, and then made our way to the grocery. We stocked up on some camping food. The grocery also had Gomtang instant ramen, amazingly! Then we headed back to the hotel where I immediately hit the bed and fell asleep ?