{"id":152,"date":"2009-01-30T01:59:09","date_gmt":"2009-01-30T07:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thebirds.ca\/?p=152"},"modified":"2012-08-08T13:48:49","modified_gmt":"2012-08-08T19:48:49","slug":"limping-into-port","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebirds.ca\/?p=152","title":{"rendered":"Limping into port"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi Everyone!
\nWell, we’re back in Christchurch and looking forward to settling into our place we’ve rented (but not until the 9th of Feb). \u00c2\u00a0We’ve registered the boys in school today and we are in love with this school. \u00c2\u00a0They have a pool that the kids swim in every day and each classroom is its own individual building so the kids are outside all the time as they move from building to building. \u00c2\u00a0The boys also have to wear uniforms which we got today and I’m enjoying the idea of not having to really get into a “thing” about what everyone is wearing in the morning. \u00c2\u00a0
\nNow. \u00c2\u00a0The title of this post is “limping into port” because 70kms outside of Ch’church we heard the “wump wump wump” of a flat tire. \u00c2\u00a0We are not useless people and so got everything out of the back of the car, the spare out and the tools to change the flat one. \u00c2\u00a0Problem. \u00c2\u00a0The lug wrench was the wrong size. \u00c2\u00a0We couldn’t get the bolts off the damn wheel so we had to call the 24 hour emergency car service to send out a lovely older gentleman by the name of Gary from some small town to change our tire. \u00c2\u00a0Geez. \u00c2\u00a0We made sure we explained that indeed we do know how to change a bloody tire but we just can’t do it with our teeth – we need the proper tools. \u00c2\u00a0It’s all sorted now and the dealer we bought the car from has given us the proper wrench and a new tire is going to be put on in a few days. \u00c2\u00a0Until then we are limping about town on our “not over 80k” donut.
\nI’ve included pictures of our flat (I’m not looking at the camera because I was pretty ticked off at this point) as well as our trip along the coast and into Abel Tasman National Park where we took the boys on a three day trek into the bush. \u00c2\u00a0It was a gorgeous area of the country and we truly enjoyed it, but it was tough on the boys and tough on our feet. \u00c2\u00a0We will always have found memories of early nights camping in under the manuka trees with the screeching cicada’s (an insect that is considered the loudest\u00c2\u00a0in the world but thankfully shuts up when the sun goes down – at times you couldn’t hear the person speaking beside you) and sharing a cup of tea with the boys while we played cards in our tent. \u00c2\u00a0A truly amazing time for our family.
\nHope all are well. \u00c2\u00a0We love and miss everyone (but not enough to come rushing home… yet).
\n~Sarah<\/p>\n

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\nThe boys at the Pancake Rocks. Just a close up of what the formations looked like. Quite something.
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\nPancake Rocks.
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\nSarah and Jack doing the comet line back across Buller Gorge. The suspension bridge is the longest in NZ.
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\nDay 1 of the Abel Tasman Walk. Fantastic views. You see that Puddles is getting the full benefit of the trip as well peeking out of the back of Will\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pack.
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\nCrossing the Anchorage\/Torrent Bay tidal crossing at low tide. We basically ran the last 15 minutes down a hill to get across here. We were expecting a big whoosh of water and then another hour walk around the bay. Alas, no whoosh, lots of time and no reason to have run down that damned hill. You may notice Will is no longer wearing his pack. The boys had a bit of a meltdown about 2.5 hours into our 4.5 hour day so Jon and I wore two packs for a while and then Jack took Will\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Jon continued on with the Jack\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s heavier one. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen Jon sweat so much.
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\nThe ever screeching cicada. There were literally thousands of them in the trees around us and it was agony on the ears at times.
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\nYou\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll notice the garbage hanging from Jon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pack – pack it in and pack it out. What a time we had.
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\nDay 2 crossing the Douglas Swing Bridge. A lovely young lady offered to take our picture. If she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d taken off with the camera I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think either Jon or I had the energy to run after her. Plus she had a kayak.
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\nBark Bay where we stopped for a few hours for lunch on Day 2. Absolutely one of the most beautiful places I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever been.
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\nAfter lunch and after beach time and ready to continue on our journey.
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\nWiping sand or wiping tears… I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t remember. I was sweaty, dirty and needed a moist towelette.
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\nWe camped at Onetahuti Bay our second night and the boys found these caves just off the beach. Our site was literally 5 feet from the beach.
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\nThe Onetahuti Bay tidal crossing. We crossed a bit early so we all got a bit damp about the edges which was kind of refreshing.
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\nAwaroa. The tip of land to the left was where we ended our day – that was Totaranui. In total we walked about 40kms in 3 days.
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\nWe opted to take the Aqua Taxi back to Marahau where we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d begun our trek. It was an hour and a half and we kept shaking our heads at how quickly we got back when it took us 3 days to get there on foot. The guy let Jackson and Will take turns up at the front driving the boat. This was the day before Jackson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s birthday so it was a special day for us.
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\nSo. You may be wondering about the houses in the background. When we got to the beach in Marahau a tractor with a boat trailer is waiting and the boat just glides up onto the back of this trailer. They then pull us down the road to the main office, about 2 kms away. It was hilarious riding in the back of a boat on the road with life jackets on.
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\nA truck passing us.<\/p>\n

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\nThe morning of Jackson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 11th birthday we took the boys sea kayaking. It was a beautiful morning.<\/p>\n

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\nSarah and Will pulling up to the beach we stopped at during our sea kayaking tour. The boys built a teepee.
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\nOur little group of sea kayakers. The guy in the back was our guide and had spent time in Japan (ergo the hat and the lone Japanese tourist who joined our group who conversed the whole time in Japanese with the guide). The people at the kayak place found out it was Jack\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s birthday (thank you Will) and met him back on the beach with balloons and candy.
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\nThe Franz Josef glacier. A rainy day. We couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get too close to the glacier due to flooding and ice falling. <\/p>\n

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\nWe took a great walk along the base of the glacier and crossed this fantastic river flowing with water and shards of ice.
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\nGreymouth and the great jumping pillow.
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\nGreymouth beach. Our campsite was directly to Jon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s right. <\/p>\n

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\nGreymouth beach and a fire on the beach with another Canadian family we met along the way.
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\nGreymouth.
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\nCarter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s beach. Probably the most amazing beach on the West coast. Almost completely deserted and warm water. Just outside the town of Westport. We really enjoyed our time here.
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\nCarter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Beach.
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\nJack and Will building a fort out of driftwood. The sand was so fine and beautiful and warm. We met a couple of amazing kiwi families who invited us to visit them on our return to Ch\u00e2\u20ac\u2122church. We had another fire on the beach here and the boys got to meet and play with other boys their age. A great night.
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\nVeggin on Carter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Beach.
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\nOur gear. Waiting. Right in front of the car is a huge mail box with the name \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Skye\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on it. When Jon spoke with Gary from the garage who was coming to help change the flat tire Jon told him about the mail box and Gary said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153oh, I know exactly where you are – hold tight – be there in a bit\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Sheesh. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve also learnt that kiwi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s are not happy unless they are tail gaiting. It can be at 40k\/hr or 100k\/hr – it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter.
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\nOur lonely little donut tire. Limping into port.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Everyone! Well, we’re back in Christchurch and looking forward to settling into our place we’ve rented (but not until the 9th of Feb). \u00c2\u00a0We’ve registered the boys in school today and we are in love with this school. \u00c2\u00a0They have a pool that the kids swim in every day and each classroom is its … Continue reading Limping into port<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebirds.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebirds.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebirds.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebirds.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebirds.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebirds.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":363,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebirds.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions\/363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebirds.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebirds.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebirds.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}