Low tide at high tide

Whoa, so much has happened in the past few days, and we've landed in JUST the right spot after all these crazy activities. We pulled up to our amazing beach house in Picton last night and it is absolutely gorgeous. Hot tub, 10 person dining table and grill on the deck... it's a little piece of heaven and the sunrise rise this morning was unbelievable! We are currently cooking up a breakfast feast to have on the porch while planning out wine and kayak tours for the next couple of days.

But let's back it up to a couple of days ago when we were still in Queenstown after the Kepler Track. The girls were pretty sore, so we decided to have a spa day the following morning (which was AMAZING!) Right after such a relaxing activity, we decided to do one of the most stressful activities in the world: jump off a suspended ledge over the river at 440 feet! 6 of us did the full on bungee jump, and the other 4 of us did the worlds highest swing bungee over a gorgeous canyon. To say it was scary is an understatement, but talk about living life to the fullest!! The next day we set out on the worlds longest road trip. People in New Zealand like to stay positive, no matter if it's true or not, so when we asked some locals how long it took to get from Wanaka to Nelson, they'd look a bit confused and then say "Ooohhh, ya know, not too long. Maybe six hours or so". Well.... 12 hours later, we were still on winding roads, making our way up the gorgeous west cost of New Zealand. Thankfully it was a gorgeous day, so the views were great, and we were in no short supply of gas station stops, chips and candy. If someone were to ask me that day, "Hey Jill, what did you have for lunch", I would reply "Sour peachy rings and salt and vinegar chips". We did however, also get to see the Franz Joseph glacier, which was spectacular, even from our far away view. That night we rolled into the Bazil Hostel at 11 pm, after a long day of driving, where our hostel host was patiently waiting up for us while feeding coal to the stove because she was worried about us. The people here have blown us away.

The next morning we woke up early and hit the road again to get to Abel Tasman (think beaches!) National Park, where we jumped a water taxi to a beach side campsite where we were the only residence. Please envision a pristine beach, with rocks and cliffs, camp sites overlooking the water, and falling asleep to the sound of the waves. And let's not forget beach side yoga:

After a full nights sleep on the beach, we embarked on the hike along the coast to where the water taxi was picking us up later that day. We got to ditch our packs at the campsite, where the ridiculously nice local boat driver said he'd pick them up, and started our trek along the beach. Now please keep in mind that we only had 3 hours until our boat was picking us up, and our trail was "3 hours". We came to a fork in the trail where our options were "High Tide trail: 4.5 hours", and the "Low Tide Trail- 3 hours". Well we didn't know much about the tides, but we knew we had 3 hours.... so obviously we took the low tide trail. About 30 minutes in, we realized why they called it the low tide trail..... the tide was coming in fast, and we had some major water to get through. It's all part of the adventure, right??

Thankfully we made it safely across, and ended our treck in beautiful Bark Bay, where our water taxi picked us up to head to shore. We saw seals and a 'penguin' (the driver was humoring us I think) on the drive back, and then it was on the road again, heading up to our beach house in Picton.

We pulled into this fabulous residence last night around 9 pm. The friendly home owners had turned on the lights for us, and the view from just the driveway made us all melt! This is what I want my house to be 'when I grow up'.... seriously. Everything from the gourmet kitchen, the hot tub and grill on the deck, the brown velour couches (you know how we love those!!) and immaculate decorations are absolutely the best. The owners have been great, and are even bringing up steaks from their family farm for us to enjoy tomorrow. Essentially, we went from cooking green curry on camping stoves with blisters on our feet, to lounging in a hot tub while Heather cooks us a meal straight out of "Bon Appetit" in the kitchen in her travel dress. This is the most amazing way to end our trip. And as I say "end our trip" I want to cry....

The next couple of days will include gaping at the views off our deck, wine tasting, and exploring the sounds in a kayak. I could do this forever...