Today was the day we explored Abel Tasman National Park. It started off with me going on my Paragliding adventure, and boy did I luck out – the weather was in ideal conditions for the flight, good temp, little wind. In short, perfect! I was still sad that mom didn’t want to go, but oh well! I tried a couple more times before I went up, to no avail.
The flight in one word was spectacular. We flew around the mountains over Khangerei Park to the left and Abel Tasman on the right. From there, after seeing the famous sinkholes, we flew to the coast and started down the coastline. The park from the air on a clear day was awesome. The water was clear and a lovely azure, teal, it changed depending on the depth of water. We saw stingrays below the water and some black dots that were maybe the fur seals? But basically saw the beautiful beaches and got stories. A Bark Bay, there was the 85-yo man who back in the day squatted on the land and now has a lovely house with a new roof just replaced last year. How sad that when he dies, the house will then be owned by the National Park who plans to tear the house down. We flew over Split Apple Rock – cute! – and then back to the hangar… where, what a surprise, mom all dressed up in a flight suit! Yippee! Mom decided that she just couldn’t pass up on the beautiful weather and the content faces of the people who went before her (there was a German guy who went up before me). She had a lovely time and is glad she went!
After that experience, we decided to go on the scenic boat tour along the coastline. It afforded us views completely different from the flight which was great. And this time we saw a seal! Ok, maybe we saw TWO seals. After that, we decided to make it a restful day and just head back to the hostel to make ourselves a delicious dinner on the grill then bed! Tomorrow we head off to see some pancake rocks and some glaciers. I think.
2 comments:
I'm an American living in New Zealand. When my nieces came to visit from the States, my partner unfortunately put the fear of God in them about stingrays. I thought he was being paranoid. Then, when we were in Abel Tasman National Park, they almost stepped on one. My partner felt vindicated and my nieces still talk about seeing that stingray. It was one of the highlights of their trip.
Wow! Someone other than my sister read this blog! :) Thanks for the story - my parents and I appreciated it. I have a similar story from Hawaii - only it was me when growing up there!
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