No pancakes in the north

As we started going up along the west coast, the scenery changed significantly - we still saw spectacular mountains in the interior, but the hills right next to the highway were covered with rain forest, everything was so green! We could have very well been in Laos, except the roads were not potholed and we were not riding a bus for 8 hours. However, the one lane bridges on the roads here provide excitement on their own.

Very green

Back to the jungle

Piece of cake?

 Try this one!

Our first stop was Punakaiki and its Pancake Rocks, rocky formations that are supposed to resemble my favorite breakfast (or lunch or dinner), and I was very anxious to see them. They didn't quite live up to my expectations though, as they looked nothing like pancakes, what a disappointment! I quickly abandoned the idea to spend the night in the nearby village and as it was very early, we decided to continue all the way up north to the seaside town of Nelson.

I guess I don't have enough imagination but where are the pancakes?

It was a long ride but we had a good reason to hurry up there, as we wanted to meet somebody!

We meet again! Over a huge pile of burgers, hot dogs, fish and chips

Our Swiss friend Michel, with whom we shared parts of our journey in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Gisela, his girlfriend, is already back in Switzerland working (the only one out of the four of us making any money), and he's touring New Zealand on his own. It was great to see him, hopefully we'll bump into him somewhere along the way again.

After surviving another night in our tent, we were ready to leave Nelson. Despite all the recommendations and advices, we decided not to go to the Abel Tasman National Park. For almost everybody we met it was the highlight of their trip, but as we are well into autumn now and all the walking in the park is done on or around beaches, we figured we'd pass. Instead we headed to Picton, town where the ferries from the North Island arrive.

Local creativity

Pelarus Sound

Picton port

As the weather wasn't too good, we stayed in the hostel, with free pudding and ice cream, and more importantly, a hot pot! We haven't seen one since Iceland and missed it greatly. 

Heaven

The next day clouds disappeared and we could get out for a short hike around the peninsula above Picton, overlooking Queen Charlotte Sound.

Queen Charlotte Sound

Interisland ferry

We rushed through the northern part of the island as it seemed way less interesting than what we'd seen in the south. In two days we drove from the glaciers all the way to Picton, and we were already ready to abandon the north completely and go down south along the east again.