New Zealand Adventures - Part 4

After we finished our camper van adventure from Queenstown to Christchurch we flew up to Nelson/Tasman area on the northwestern part of the South Island to reunite with our friends. We rented a beautiful house overlooking Tasman Bay. From this area we were able to spend a day exploring a piece of the Able Tasman National Park. 

After a morning rain shower the sun appeared and we took a water taxi up the coast and got dropped off on a beautiful golden sand beach in the park. From here we had a few hours to have a picnic, go on a hike, and just enjoy the beauty of the beach and sea! Piper of course hiked barefoot and I found a friendly Weka bird (flightless and endemic to NZ) to hang out with!

One of the days we were in the Tasman area, Paul, Craig, and Sheila went mountain biking and Crystal and I took the kids to a farm. It was pretty cute and Piper finally got to have her first ride on a horse!

After a few nights in the Tasman area we headed east to Picton where we rented another beautiful house with another great view! 

From here we had easy access to the wineries, so of course we had to visit!

And from Picton we finished our adventures in New Zealand with the ferry crossing across Cook Straight to Wellington. The inter-island ferry is known as one of the most beautiful ferry crossings in the world and I would agree. For three hours we had gorgeous views and even saw a few more albatross!

At Wellington airport Smaug was there to bid us farewell as our adventures in New Zealand were complete!