Last few days!

Tuesday-
Hiking day! We had the HARDEST hike ever! We started with a 15 minute stroll and then our guide said ok if you want to hike the hard hike go this way and if you don't want to turn around and you can get coffee and shop. Smart us... We took the hard hike option and hard was no understatement. To begin, it was pouring rain! Literally the entire hike up and the entire hike down! I had waterproof hiking boots on, waterproof pants, rain jacket, and a waterproof cover over my backpack.... Basically all geared up and I was still soaked! Probably because I wasn't wearing my hood. It was so hot hiking up that we didn't want to wear our hoods so our hair was soaked! 2 and half hours later we got to the top of the mountain and we were way above the clouds and treeline. It was so much colder up there though, instead of rain it was snowing! Behind us were snowcapped mountains and it was wonderful! We hiked for so long to only stay at the top for a few minutes because we were so cold. Headed back down and it took about an hour and a half... We sprinted down- possibly too quickly.... I slid and fell into a huge pile of mud and slipped down a huge rock. I'm hurting today to say the least! When we got back to the bus everyone who didn't hike was waiting and cheering when we got there... Such an accomplishment! Headed back to the hotel and went grocery shopping and I cooked chicken stirfry for a group of us. It was delicious! After dinner we had a party in our little apartment thing haha. The place we are staying at tonight and where we stayed last night is called equestrian lodge in motueka and we have a nice kitchen, living room and tv, back porch, and 2 bedrooms for 3 of us it's great! Tried doing laundry and it of course didn't work. Everytime we do laundry we encounter problems. The dryers everywhere we go do not dry! And er have to use one and two dollar coins so we never have enough coins! Last night we did our wash and realized this morning we forgot to add detergent because most places automatically add it soooo our clothes aren't even clean! We dried them twice and it didn't work so we laid them outside and of course now they smell horrible! We need lessons on how to do laundry! Very tiring day but such a great one! We felt so accomplished after that hike!

Wednesday- Abel Tasman national park: today we woke up super early and headed to Abel Tasman national park for a day of hiking and kayaking! We did the hike first. It was a 3 hour hike to the point where we were getting in the sea to kayak. The hike was so easy compared to yesterday and our routeburn track hike last week. The hike was beautiful though! We could see the sea majority of the time and it was so blue and such a sunny day! When we first began our hike it rained a little and we saw an entire rainbow, I don't think i've ever seen a whole one, only parts, so that was neat. On our hike Terry talked about plants of course. We love Terry! He is our field guide.... He's from new Zealand, in his 50s, tiny little man, 130 pounds, and he knows absolutely every little detail there is to know about this country. He gets so excited to talk about plants, animals, and glaciers. We joke because everything seems to be related to glaciation. So on our hike Terry of course made us stop to look at plants such as the silver beech tree. It's actually a pretty neat tree. On the outside of the leaves they're green but when you look on the bottom they're silver! So we enjoyed the hike and stopped at a little beach to take pics then went to where we were kayaking and had lunch.
We got all geared up with our kayak skirts to keep the water out of the boat, jackets, and some other things. I kayaked with Katelyn and I sat behind her because they made me since I'm more experienced? I had to steer with foot peddles which controlled the rudder. I wished I hadn't rowed for so long at that point because steering and kayaking was difficult at first. We started on the wrong foot. For some reason our rudder wasn't in the right position so when I pulled the lever to release the rudder into the water it wouldn't go. So we literally went in a circle the second they pushed us off shore. Fixed that. Then we kayaked to the rocks where the seals were playing and so stinkin cute! Then one of the guides caught an eel. He had some catching contraption that he used then released it, he didn't take it out of the water or anything no worries! Kayaked our best trying to catch up with the boys but couldn't. We talked up our skills too much bc we told them we would beat them but definitely didn't! Everytime Lucas and Jesse got by us they splashed us like crazy! We would try to splash them back but couldn't ! The salt water stung our faces it was so weird! Then phong and Austin came up and splashed us and then a few other guys did. We get picked on so much it's ridiculous ! So at this point we are drenched! The skirt that was supposed to keep the water out didn't do it's job because I was soaked! We got of on an island and played a game with our paddles. You stand in a circle and the conductor yells to either go left or right and you? Gy  put your paddle in the sand standing up and run to the next paddle, whoever drops theirs or doesn't get one is out. It was entertaining! The rocks on the island were covered with mussels it was so cool! Ok so we left there and headed for the dock. Got soaked on the way and then saw little blue penguins!!! Yeah PENGUINS in the pacific! Amazing! They were so cute and little and live in warm climate. They said there are thousands of them in the area. I got pictures don't worry! So we got super close to shore and we had just put the rudder up so had no way of steering and literally 30 seconds later we turn parallel to the way the waves are coming in and got FLIPPED by the wave! Yes, katelyn and I slipped our kayak 20 steps from shore! We made it 3 hours without flipping and flipped at the end because of a wave. I was cracking up! We were freezing but so entertained by ourselves. Everyone else got a kick out of it too! So that was the perfect way to end the day! Literally! It was so much fun! Going to bed now.... SKY DIVING in the morning at 7 am so 3pm your time. Wish me luck!

Peace and love!
Caitlin