february 28

Waking up to a cloudy sky was not what we hoped for, but we packed up camp and headed towards the Bealey Valley Track we drove by the day before (tracks are the Kiwi way of saying "trail"). The track meanders via boardwalk through a forest and marshland before breaking into a valley that almost appeared to be a canyon. The misty morning proved to add an extra element of mystery to our hike. There is a certain beauty to fog laying thick on green trees and mosses. I can't quite describe how green it is in New Zealand! As we crawled over boulders and a streams, we were privy to a view higher and higher up the valley until we saw a waterfall into the stream, and a bit further up we saw a snow cave straddling the valley. At this point we turned around so J could make his doctor appointment in Christchurch. We made out way to the car and I appreciated the flex and strain on my muscles the whole way. We also saw a Kea, the only alpine parrot, along our trek. This bird likes to peck at shoelaces and shoes in general, so we kept our distance from the big bird. It seems funny that we compare nearly every bird we see to the Antarctic Skua.

This hike was an excellent start to Day 2 of our adventure. We headed back to Christchurch and took care of all the business we had to do in town. We said a few more goodbyes, and then the five of us boarded the caboose and made our way south on Highway 1 through sheep territory.

Our first stop, nearly three or four hours laster was a quick skip down the beach at St. Andrews. The stones on this beach were all round or oval and pretty flat. It reminded me of massage stones. If only we had time tot heat them up and lay them under our feet and on our backs! Genevieve also spotted a shark skeleton on the beach which we found particularly engaging. You'll note in the picture that Genevieve found a special sort of appreciation for him. We considered putting him on the grill of our van, but ended up allowing him to rest on the stones.

We continued our trek south in search of camping. Our search brought us along the path of some friendly supermarket clerks, a man with long dreds, three children, and a traveling couple who all gave us directions to Campbell Bay (which Genevieve had earlier interpreted as "camel bay" from the man with dreds). The ocean side drive was gorgeous as the sun set over the Pacific's rolling waves! Our campsite was amazing: $5nz for our vehicle put us on a cliff overlooking the beach and ocean and bluffs, right outside of Kakanui.