Our time in New Zealand’s North Island has been so much fun and Taupo has been a perfect home away from home for the past few weeks. The sights, the food and the trails have definitely kept us busy, but we’ve also had a chance to exhale and enjoy some legitimate kiwi downtime.

Stop rolling your eyes, this is hard work. 🙄

Before we left the crazy geothermal north we decided to check out one more of New Zealand’s bubbling wonders…this time at Wai-O-Tapu. The park is home to a number of different features including the Champagne Pool (pictured below), New Zealand’s largest hot spring.

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No, the picture below is neither photoshoped nor a radioactive dump site. The almost-neon green pool is known as the Devil’s Bath and gets its color from deposits of sulphur that rise to the surface and float on top. 

After a short 4 hour trek down the North Island’s one main highway (yes, it’s Highway 1), we arrived into Wellington for a quick stop at one of their famous craft breweries. The beer and grub at Fork & Brewer didn’t disappoint, but it was time to catch our Interislander ferry and cross over to the south side.

We arrived into Picton in the heart of Queen Charlotte Sound and stayed over for a quick night’s rest at an Airbnb aptly named The Cowshed. With its beautiful downtown marina set against a backdrop of rolling “hills”, Picton was the perfect place to start our South Island journey…it was just far too short of a visit. With a little luck we’ll hopefully be back this way again to explore more of Marlborough Sound’s rugged coastline and endless hiking, biking and kayaking routes.

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From Picton we made our way to Kaiteriteri at the base of New Zealand’s smallest National Park, Abel Tasman. Founded after its namesake who in 1642 became the first European explorer to lay eyes on New Zealand, Abel Tasman NP has become famous for it’s golden sand beaches and multi-day tramping routes.

Side note; Tramping in New Zealand = Backpacking/Hiking in the rest of the world. Just so you don’t get the wrong idea… 🤭

Everyone found a little of what they were looking for in Abel Tasman. Tara found her zen (minus the annoying camera guy), and the kids found plenty of ways to clown around. So much for the zen.

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Little Kaiteriteri beach is the beautiful stretch of sand that we called home for almost 1 week, and we loved it. The view from our deck (last pic) was incredible, and it was only a short 3 minute walk down to one of the most beautiful and undisturbed beaches we’ve ever visited.

The kids of course found more than their fair share of ways to clown around, and didn’t at all seem to mind the 59 degree water temperature. 🥶

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The picture above is from our last sunrise (yup, sunrise) in Kaiteriteri. Our next adventure will take us through the famous Marlborough 🍷 region and then on to the Kaikoura Peninsula! 🐬

We’ll see you there!