Kayak, kiwis, trees, no kiwis, blue wate

Kayaking at Lake Mapourika to start the day - with a bunch of kids (?) that made me feel old… no doubt that the guy I shared a kayak with was still getting over his hangover - but he did well 😉 - and having some nice glaciers as backdrop did help!

Afterwards a quick stop at the kiwi sanctuary - New Zealand really and impressively put significant effort in preserving what they have - incl increasing their number of kiwis (they have 5 different kinds of kiwis).

Next stop - after coffee - was the west coast tree top walk. Unfortunately no view of the mountains - instead enough rain… But these trees… 😳

Based on a recommendation from my kayak guide (anyone ever heard of Yung Gravy? He looked like his two) the next stop was Hokitika Gorge. While parking and gathering my stuff, I saw a man staring at another car, seemingly taking a video. Even weirder, he was smiling the entire time while nobody was around. Only when I got out of the car, I understood - a kiwi mom and her 2 chicks were exploring the parking lot… could not have been better…

UPDATE: those are wekas, not kiwis… 😕

But the Gorge came close - bluest water. So pretty and almost surreal…

Tonight I’m sleeping in the cat room of a lovely hostel called Noah’s Ark. It’s also raining heavily - so that is that. Not to mention that one of the owner’s is half German ;-)Read more