still sans trumpets

Hey all,
As per my parents and sister’s request on Christmas, I will do the next two blog updates, since I believe I have failed to do anything aside from the “Notes from Ella”. Two additional “notes from Ella” before I tell you all about what we’ve been doing: one) I now officially have three buckles broken on my pack. Osprey/REI will be hearing from me upon my return (not that I’m hating on Osprey, the pack has suffered much abuse from me over my travels and has held up well). Secondly) the dino raptor earrings have officially broken, lil and I both shed a tear but are hoping to turn them into dangles upon our return stateside. Now onto our travels (also, this will be very long since it’s been so long since we’ve updated this… and I ramble more than Lilly).
We took off the day after Christmas to start the Abel Tasman Coastal Track. Day one was absolutely glorious. The track reminds me very much of highway one on the coast of California, cut against the hillside winding up and down, all the while staring out at the ocean (except here, the ocean is that beautiful green/blue color you see in the Caribbean). We stopped about halfway through our first day and waded onto a white sandy beach and enjoyed the sand for some hours before getting to our actual campsite, which was also on a white sandy beach and was absolutely beautiful. Our second day started out bright and early with an estuary crossing. Side note: when starting the Abel Tasman track you are given (save that Lilly and I were not given) a tide times table because periodically throughout the track there are estuary crossings and if you miss low tide you can either swim in the water getting your pack all wet or wait out the tide; which is rather unfortunate given that low tides usually hit around 8am and 8 pm. Anyway, we made our first tide crossing and wound up and down the cliffside with the day going from bright and sunny to slightly overcast, slightly misty, and then finally, rain. We made it to our second campsite in a very heavy rain, frantic I might add because we thought we had to make an estuary crossing and had missed low tide and would thus be sitting in the rain for hours until the water level went down (stupid department of conservation forgetting to give us a tide sheet). Anywho, the tent site along the trail had a cooking “shelter,” essentially two walls with an overhang where we huddled inside trying to dry out the footprint to our tent so we wouldn’t get wet for the night (besides it was cold and rainy and all our stuff was wet so there wasn’t much else to do). Long story short, Lil and I managed to camp through the most rain the Golden Bay has seen since 1977. We woke at midnight to find ourselves sleeping in a puddle with fear the crashing ocean next to us would eventually hit us and sweep our stuff out to sea (note to Blaine, in case you didn’t know, your tent is absolutely in no way waterproof). Around 6:30am we heard a branch crack over our heads and decided it was time to choose life and get out of our tent. Unfortunately, we had to end our trek early and take a “water taxi” (essentially a boat that picks you up along the track if you’re too lazy to do the entire thing and makes you pay an exorbitant amount of money for the service). With our sleeping bags, clothes, and tent soaking wet we figured it wasn’t worth the risk of hypothermia to continue on to our next campsite, 7 hours away in the rain (and we’d have missed the second tide crossing given the weather and water levels so we’d be hiking in the dark). I would like to note, the Abel Tasman was absolutely amazing and I’d recommend it to anyone. After getting off the track we arrived in Takaka.
Arrive Takaka. Takaka is absolutely wonderful. Annie’s Nirvana Lodge is one of the greatest hostels I have every stayed at with the funniest owner and friendliest people. It was warm and sunny the entire time we were there. We spent our first day with some folks from the hostel going up to the farewell spit and Whaririki beach, both absolutely stunning, but of the absolute most importance, there were SEALS on the beach, lots and lots of adorable and stinky seals. Precious, I wanted to cuddle with them, they on the other hand, were having non of it. My unrequited love for animals continues. The next day we went with some other folks from the hostel to another beach and new years eve we spent at a river swimming, jumping off cliffs, and laying out on rocks. The rivers here are like nothing I’ve ever see complete with that stunning blue green water color I’ve only ever found in oceans but here seems to wind through the trees in the rivers (bad fishing though dad, we tried for a while with a lake rod and had no luck). We very much enjoyed our new years eve night drinking at the hostel with all the other mates, including a man who had to be at least 75 years old from Scotland… awesome. Now we have arrived back in Nelson for one night and will be off to a farm tomorrow. Cheers!
P.S. apologizes for any grammatical errors or typos, I don’t really like spending this much time on the computer so I’m not going back and checking this J
<3<3<3
Ella