2/17/12 (Friday):  Wow -- our time in New Zealand is passing so quickly!  We're back in Seatoun with Mark's family now.  When I last blogged, we were on our way to Wanaka.  So let's get caught up!

From Lake Pukaki, we went to Twizel with our new biking friend.  There were no bike shops in Twizel, so he continued to Wanaka with us, as mentioned in my last blog.  We continued to our next stop, Fox Glacier, the next morning and he left on his new bike tires to Queenstown.  See map.

The terrain was getting more and more mountainous and lush as we headed west.  We crossed over the Haast Pass and through Mount Aspiring National Park.  Our first stop along the way was the Blue Holes, where the Blue River and the Makarora River join up.  The two rivers have carved deep holes that are astonishingly blue. It was an easy walk on a paved path, so Wiley got to enjoy it, too.

Along the banks of the river are these stacked up stones.  I have no idea of their significance (if any), but it made me think how sacred this area must have been for the Maori people.

 Our lunch stop this day was on top of a hill with a view of even higher mountains in the distance.  We had a chance to admire some of the flowers and trees up close.

 There are many, many ferns, including tree ferns that get quite tall.  I like these that grew in big, round clumps.

 Flax is also very common.  The Maori made cloth and twine from its fibers.

 Lots of different kinds of flowers, too.

 I'm not sure whether this is a tree, a bush, or just a tall plant, but it's strange and wonderful looking.

We didn't see these Nihau Palm trees until we got further northwest, but since I'm talking about the vegetation now, I thought I'd include them here.

 These lilies were growing wild everywhere, but I also saw them planted in gardens, so they may have been escapees.

These orange blossoms grew in masses everywhere.  They're my new all-time favorite flower!

 Our next stop was Hokatika.  This little town was the center of the gold rush in the mid-1860's.  It's also the pounami (greenstone or jade) capitol of New Zealand.  Pounami has spiritual significance to the Maori, who used it for weapons and jewelry.

 The local shops are full of beautiful examples of the weapons and decorations (these were made by modern Maoria).

I don't know who would have bought this modern interpretation of a Maori feather cloak, but you'd sure stand out in a crowd if you wore it!

I walked around town a little and found this old building, which I thought was very interesting looking.  It's for sale for $450,000 if anyone would like to move here!

Now the road was getting much steeper with lots of hairpin curves, but the Mercedes camper handled it very well.  The roadcuts were often covered with ferns and the feeling is very tropical, like a rainforest.

After our drive through the Haast Pass, we got our first view of the Tasman Sea. 

Next stop:  Punakaki (Pancake Rocks).  This was another free area (there were lots of them on the South Island).  There was a great paved path, so Wiley was able to do it, too.

 The rock formations were really cool.  If you click on the picture on the left, you can see the detail of how the rocks are stacked. 

 Scientists know that the rocks are limestone and were under the sea for centuries, but they still cannot explain why they are stacked like they are.  If you click on the picture to the right, you can see the sea spray blowing out of the blow hole.  Whenever a big wave hits the shore, the spray come out the top.  The sea was not very rough when we were there; sometimes there's a very impressive plume out of the blowhole.

 We hadn't seen much wildlife up to this point, but we were greeted in the parking lot by two of these fearless birds.  They walked right up to us, pecking around the tires of each new vehicle that pulled into the parking area.  We later learned that they're a native New Zealand bird called a Weka.

We're off to a lovely seaside restaurant for lunch now, so I'll end here and continue the saga of our great New Zealand adventure in a day or two.  E noho rā