Day Twenty - Punakaiki Beach to Kaiteriteri Beach

day_twenty
Originally uploaded by bpelley.

Today was a big driving day. After a morning viewing of the Pancake Rocks and a delicious breakfast of pancakes (but of course) at the local cafe, we headed up the coast a bit and then turned inland to drive towards Abel Tasman National Park on the northern shore of the South Island. It was another narrow and curvy road. Patrick is getting very good at driving on the left-hand side of the road! We stopped for a quick lunch on the in a small town, visited the longest swing bridge in New Zealand (but did not pay the $5 that someone saw fit to charge to cross it) and pulled in to Kaiteriteri Beach late in the afternoon. The beach was packed! Apparently, it was a holiday weekend in NZ and everyone was making their way to the beach. We got one of the last spots in the campground and headed for the beach. 6pm is a great time for Patrick and Bonney to go to the beach. We can actually expose our sun to the skin at this time of day. For all you doubters, we both have the workings of sandal tans! After dinner, we made arrangements for our kayaking trip the next day and hit the sack early. In ocean kayaking, the early bird gets the worm. Or so the tour people told us when they said we had to be there at 7:15am. Ouch! That is not vacation time.

For more pictures from Day Twenty (there aren't many!), click here.