Spent a truly trippy & magical 2 weeks over the holidays in Mapua, New Zealand, on the South Island near Nelson.Driving from Christchurch (a fun city in its own right, from the Botanic Garden to Sol Square) to Nelson takes about 6 hours through beautiful mountain passes -- a landscape that makes you feel like you're in a car ad or the world's biggest Imax film. Nothing can really prepare you for the pristine beauty, expanse of nature and just raw magnificence. Yeah, we liked it.
Stayed at the fantastic Miro & Karaka Cottages run by Elspeth & Kim, two of the nicest people anywhere, and accompanied by their sweet pooch Poppy and a brood of seemingly self-replicating chickens. The cottages are located on a beautiful ex-apple orchard, along a huge estuary. It was fun watching the tides come in and out, kayaking, and my favorite extreme sport: hammocking. New Year'e eve we lit a fire, drank some local wine, watched the local town's fireworks from afar, and went gaga over the starscape above.Kiwis have got to be some of the friendliest and open people anywhere, maybe it's due to all the fabulous wine they make. In our little area, there were dozens of vineyards -- really too many to visit, though we gave it our best shot!
Even though we were total strangers, we met lots of cool people like Fi & Ivan, who even invited us for a yummy meal (and more wine) on their awesome farm that they should immediately rename Shangri-la.Drove back down on the coastal highway, stopping along the way to eat fresh crayfish, pick berries and watch fur seals along the coast at Kaikoura. Stayed a night at a cute farmstay, where we met Jennifer Lopig.
We were having such a great time, we delayed our flight for 2 days. (If it were up to me, I'd still be there...) Topping it all off, we left Christchurch at 6am, and were having dim sum in Sydney by 10!
Check out our New Zealand photos.
