A trip to the south - New Zealand, Islands crossing

South of Rotorua, many volcans have let footsteps on the landscape over years (actually, thousands of years), and some parks are the living memory of this volcanic activity. I visited one of them before reaching Taupo, and Taupo lake, world famous for... trout fishing ! There is nothing special there, except it is the main acces to the Tongarino natural park. And there is where you can find one of the best "one day" hike in NZ, the Tongarino crossing, with scenic views on the volcanic mountains of the park. Unfortunately, the weather was bad (rain, no visibility), and it was not possible to acces the park. I then changed my plans and drove south to Palmerston North, famous mostly for its gardens and... its rugby museum. But before I stopped in a little city called Taihape. From there, a 30 minutes drive through the countryside, with thousands os sheeps staring at me, brought me to the River Valley Lodge. A little paradize lost in the middle of nowhere where you can do many outdoor activities such as rafting, kayak or horse treks. That was my choice, and although it was a bit rainy, it was a wonderful afternoon. I spent my last hours in the north island in Wellington, the capital. This is actually a much better city than Auckland. It was nice walking through the center, looking for the main buildings, the parlement and all these stuffs. The main attraction though is the Te Papa Museum, dealing with the country, its geography, wildlife, history and culture. A big part is dedicated to the Maoris and their culture and the all thing was quite interesting... and free, which is quite unusual for such a big and modern museum. The last morning I went to the coast, where lives a seal colony. After walking more than an hour, I was about to go back on my steps when I saw a first seal lying on a rock, taking a nice sunbath. I was alone there, less than 20 meters from this huge animal which barely looked at me before falling asleep again. On my way back I could see another one, and more impressive, some orcas in the water. They were three of them, a big one and two "smaller", coming very close from the beach (where nobody swims anyway), probably young orcas playing around. This was awesome, I could have stayed there for hours, but the ferry wouldn't wait, and I left quickly to reach the southern island in the middle of the afternoon. First step there : the Abel Tasman natural Park, in the north of the island. The drive was awesome, 2 hours and a half through very different landscapes. First the fjords of the north east, and a road with amazing views, even though the weather was not very helpfull. Then, escaping the fjords, the sun a nice blue sky suddenly showed up and stood with me all across the valley I went through. The last kilometers were on a road along the Tasman sea, with the sun coming down, and all the colours changing slowly.

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