Deb and AW exploring the South II

How quickly I get distracted, so here is catch up from our trip South.  Want to share the sights from this lovely lodge in Marlborough Sound called Hopewell Lodge.  It came recommended from two very reputable sources and we got to spend two night and two days here.

One has the option of driving 50 some kms on very windy roads or taking a water taxi and then getting picked up by the host in a sweet little boat.  Upon arrival we were greeted with tea and Anzac (Australia New Zealand Army Corp) cookies-an oatmeal variation that the New Zealand and Aussie women would send to their partners off at war. 

(One can look up recipe on the Hopewell Lodge website!  You need to have golden syrup though, which is easy to find if you live here or in Canada.  Available on Amazon as well we discovered!)

Here is a Tui Bird sipping nectar from the flax flowers.

Here was our greeting party as we were welcomed to the Lodge.

Some artsy shots of the local scenes.  It was one of the more relaxing places I can recall.  There are kayaks and fishing boats and walks to be had, or relaxing and more relaxing if one chooses.   One of our days if was raining so hard it made it difficult to do much more than hang out and read, bummer!!

Stacks of snails making little towers!

This area is known for its green lipped mussels, they are farmed extensively in this region and I had the opportunity to go out to one of the farms and see for myself.  

The mussles are seeded into these very long gauze wrapped ropes, and then strung at various distances about 1 meter apart along an even longer rope.  After about 9 months they are ready for harvest.  Tons and tons are harvested annually and many send over to Asia and Australia.

Here they are hanging in the water, one rope along the top anchored with bouys and then the seeded ropes hanging down.

Here is one rope from which we will harvest

Cleaning off the mussels 

Our harvest and soon to be dinner!

Prepping the table for our feast

THe mussels were steamed and then dumped on table for the eating.  SO sweet!

A delight indeed!

Cozy cabin with all of the play toys

Came upon these hives while out hiking above the lodge, love the colored hive boxes!  These bees make a variety of Manuka honey from the Manuka flower, known for its medicinal purposes.

Manuka flower, just waiting for some honey bees!!

And then we had to leave Hopewell for a trip south to Kaikoura, known for its whale watching, sperm whales and all, but our trip was cancelled due to rough seas.  Lucky for me and my seasickness tendencies.  Instead we enjoyed a gorgeous coastline and watching some rather surly sea lions.

The only whales we saw on this day.

Pohutakawa flowers, national flower of NZ!

Having fun with new toy!  

Quick visit to town of Nelson, bright and colorful and lots and lots of people.  We lunched and headed out for the beach instead

Not bad for a sunny Sunday, and this was one of the more crowded days.

Back in Picton before heading back across the Cook Straight to Wellington and then home.

Once home we then welcomed Jamey Robnett Conover into our ranks and met the kids in Auckland as they ended their travels with Ed.  Boys even got to go bungey jumping!!!  Here is a classic summer scene in Auckland, big bean bags for the public to enjoy.   We see these all over.

Jamey and Jack as we stop for a cold drink