On the advice of our hostess we took a drive today out to Kaiteriteri, a lovely little seaside village - though village may be an exaggeration. Above the village is Kaka Point, a viewing spot at the top of a steep incline, from where you can see just about everything in the area. Including Marahau and Fisherman Island at the south end of Abel Tasman National Park. The park itself is enormous, far too big to see in its entirity without a (not too short) dedicated holiday in the area. Much of the park is best accessed by kayak, or by a sprightly uphill hike. We took a walk along the coast from Marahau to Coquille Bay - one hour to the north, and in doing so we saw only a small fraction of the park. This walk through mud and forest is the kind of thing you'd never do in Australia - not unless you were daft as a brush or armed to the teeth. In New Zealand though, there are just about no creatures or plants that will put you to death for imposing yourself on their territory. So impose ourselves we did.
The land around here seems mainly to be used for fruit growing. It's probably out of season now, so everything seems fairly quiet. The cottage we're staying in is owned by a couple who converted much of their own orchard into tourist accomodation. The name of this silent haven is Aporo - apparently the Maori name for apple.
On a completely separate note - Ciaran bought an All-Black jersey and can be seen in the photo above practising the Haka on the beach at Kaiteriteri. He is calling on dead sprits to give him strength, and showing through his extended tongue that he will eat his enemy. Hoo haa.
