Tuesday & Wednesday , Feb 9th & 10th

The 9th

It was a glorious day! Long but wonderful.We took a bus tour of Farewell Spit, in a custom bus made especially for travel over lots of sand; it was very high off the ground with huge wheels and had large glass windows all around. Farewell Spit borders Golden Bay and has a lighthouse, all automated at this point, at its end.

Our first stop was at Fossil Point, but we couldn't see any fossils as the sands had buried them for the moment; we were told that the sands would soon blow away for a while and then be blown back to cover the fossils again. Near where the fossils were was a cave and inside was a seal, startled by us being there. He wanted out but wouldn't go with so many people around. We backed away, and still he lay there. Then, he raised his head, looked around, ignored us, and pounced forward twice and then slid. He lay there again for a short time, raised himself, pounced using  his flippers a couple of times, and slid to a stop. This continued until he reached the water. It was so great watching him.

Off to our next stop, although our guide, Bob, was talking the whole trip, stopping to show us the different water birds around, and giving us history and many a story about the area. It was really interesting. We had lunch at the Lighthouse and got to view the original lenses used.

The sands are always shifting and there are usually heavy duty winds to blow them around. We next went to a sand dune, which we all walked up, and then side walked down to an area where we could see a couple of heavy duty bolts and some wood, like the top rail of a ship, which it was. It had been grounded in the mid 1800s and slowly covered up by the sands. About 10 years ago, they put up a marker, which also got covered but reappeared last year. So, now they're waiting to see more of the ship.

Our last stop was at Cape Farewell, which we viewed from a beautiful spot across from its large rock arch. It was where Cpt Cook last viewed NZ before leaving. The tour took about seven hours and was very special.

It amazes me how much beauty there is all around us. We're driving a lot but it's all so different, even when there are constantly mountains, winding roads, trees, sheep, cows, and water. Ma Nature's compositions are like nothing imaginable. The play of light and dark with the sun light and shadows humble me.

We stayed the night at Shambala again and went to bed early. Nothing exciting about food.

The 10th

This was kind of a rest day, as we drove back from Onetaka to Motueka to stay with Gail and Doug for another night. It's about an hour and a hald drive which took most of the day. We had passed many carvers, jewelers, and potters and all had been closed before today. So, we took our time, stopped where we wanted to, and talked with artists of all kinds. It was great. Takaka is a town close to Shambala, and is quite the hippie place. Lots of people, mainly youngish, dressed like hippies with dreadlocks. There are several organic farms and a nice, but small organic market in town. Healthy eating places too. Very laid back. Lots of galleries. So, that's how we spent our day, looking at galleries in town and artists along the drive. We had lunch at the Dangerous Cafe, sharing a vegetarian burrito, gluten-free and dairy-free, no sugar in anything and it was delicious. Art had gluten-free chocolate cake for dessert. For dinner at Gail and Doug's, I made a salad, and I had hummus while Art had cheese and pate. Light but yummy and enough food to satisfy us.

Oh, while in Takaka, we had stopped one of the organic farms. They didn't have a lot for sale but they had a fruit called Nashi. Didn't have a clue as to what it was, so they let us try one - turned out they are Asian pears but they were a slightly different variety than I'm familiar with so I hadn't recognized it. A couple of people drove up and they had just picked a lot of Nashi from a deserted grove. We traded a bar of chocolate for about a dozen nashi; both groups were pleased with the barter.

More later. Too tired to write about today. Will tomorrow or the next day.