For Jill's birthday we went to Hanmer Springs, a hot spring resort town. It was chilly, with snow on the surrounding hills- great time for hot springs!
We were only in Hanmer for a couple days, then drove Lewis Pass, over the Alps again, to the Abel Tasman region.
Abel Tasman is a national park on the northern end of the south island. It's sheltered by headlands on either side, so even though you're on the sea, it's flat and calm like a lake, without the swells you see at other beaches around the country. This, combined with orange sand/golden beaches, crystal clear water, and the warm climate, makes this area resemble tropical beaches like the Carribean. In the summer, people flock to this place, and its one of the busiest places in the country.
We left this area until Autumn on purpose, as its mostly deserted now, but the weather is still nice. We stayed in holiday parks and campgrounds with 1000+ capacities, yet only a few campers this time of year.
One of the best ways to explore Abel Tasman is by Kayak, so we rented a Kayak for the day and it was a great experience. We were given a quick instruction and then sent on our way. This place is all about secluded coves, and we also paddled out to explore a couple islands. We found some groups of seals, and lots of seal pups- so much fun when they swim under the boat and check us out!
The area surrounding Abel Tasman is packed full of places to explore, a place called "The Grove" was a short walk through limestone jungle.
Rawhiti cave was an open air limestone cave, with more stalactites than you can count.
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