NZ is wonderful...WONDERFUL I tell you!!

This whole trip has been amazing.  There is so much everyday I can't even begin to break into the seal of the treasures of travel I have found down here.  I will start with a few blips and try to let it absorb.  This place is a gem.

A day at the beach on the northern tip of the south island.  Caves and arches, dunes and small pools, through beech forest and fields of sheep to crazy rocks and baby seals; its all here in walk of a couple kilometers.

 Abel Tasman national park, where I spent four days on a bay only accessible by water, has unbelievable gold beaches below rocky cliffs through the thick temperate rain forest.  The inlets and bays are amazing and the marine life in the marine reserve is overflowing.  We played with some seals on our kayak on day, picked some fresh mussels the next.  

Our team: Clay, Sanaz and myself on Whariki Beach

Right now I sit, happily, in the surf town of Westport, on the west coast of the south island NZ.  Its rainy and I welcome this time to rest (especially after the BIG party we made with the locals last night!)  The last two weeks have been a wonderous addition to my trip/life. I can't believe things can look like this.  My eyes actually are having trouble absorbing all of the beauty surrounding me.The forests are cool, physically cooling to the skin, and the green in the trees and plants is the green that taught all other green how to be.

Its lovely, just lovely. The sea roars and rolls, the mountains are tall, the people laugh all the time and the birds are talkative, funny and friendly little things.  

And the sunsets ain't bed either...