Day 11 update

Well here I am early in the morning in the little town of Murchison writing this quick little update for you.

The North Island was fantastic. We had a great mixture of weather up there, from gorgeous days with chilly nights, to windy days with some light drizzle. The capitol of New Zealand, Wellington of course lived up to its reputation as being 'Windy Wellington'. The troops didn't bat an eye lid to the weather though and we did 4 hours of volunteer work on Matiu/Somes Island which consisted of digging some new drains for the tracks and clearing out previous ones. It is a protected Island and we got the chance to see some of New Zealand's animals up close. That night we challenged the weather yet again and went out for a walk to see if we could find some PENGUINS! We had great success! We managed to see a handful coming back onto the Island from a days hunting and gathering.
We then crossed to the South Island. We were predicting a rough sailing across the Cook Straight. So, we loaded up on Sea Leg travel tablets for the 3 hour ferry ride, which paid off. It was pretty bumpy but none of us were ill, there were some not as fortunate people around us, however, which were a little ill. That aside, we went into the Able Tassman National Park via water taxi and spent the night at Bark Bay, where we stayed in a hut. Good thing it had a gas heater, as yet again, it was a chilly night. We then paddled back out to were the van was. We were on the water for about 4 1/2 hours, the water was really calm. We were all really happy to get to the van for a late lunch. Hamish Depoff, former Camp Carolina counselor, volunteered his time and came out and guided us. He guides in the park during his summers. And now that brings us today. We are heading towards Amy's home town today, Greymouth, and then spending two nights in Franz Joseph Glacier.
Hope you enjoy the new pictures :-)
Until next time.
Jaron Frosty (as my hands are rather cold)
TRACS TRIP LEADER