We started exploring the South Island...

Dear friends and family,

A novelty this time – we are reporting to you from the South Islandof NZ. We have stopped for a short time in the city Nelson, and will be continuing later today further west, towards the Abel Tasman national park.

So, what have we been up to since our last posting in Taupo? We spent a night with a very nice couple, in a small town on the way to Wellington. Ken and Raewyn, our hosts, are part of the HIT network (stands for Hosting Israeli Travelers). For reasons we haven't entirely figured out, people that are part of this network host Israelis in their homes, for a token payment (or none at all). Some of them are Jewish, though not too many. Others, like our hosts, are Messianic Christians. Still others are former Israelis. Anyway, we had a lovely Friday evening meal with our hosts, lighting the candles and listening to some Hebrew music. All in all, our hosts were extremely friendly, sharing their home with us, and opening their hearts to us. For us, it was a very speical experience, visiting an"authentic" kiwi home. They did their best to catch a few Hebrew words, and actually said it seems easier to do from the girls than from grownups talking full speed. By the end of our visit, Ken said it is unlikly that he will ever foget the word "lama" courtesy of our little Dus... :-)

The next day we continued south to Wellington. Just a big city, nothing too exciting. We spent a nice day at the NZ national museum (Te Papain Maori), where they have heaps of activities for litttlies (as they call them here – see, we're starting to pick up the local slang!). Noga had a good time in the volcanic exhibits, and Hadas enjoyed just being in the kids area where she could wander around freely and just touch anything she felt like (a unique museum experience for her)... The following morning was rainy, so before boarding our afternoon ferry, we spent a few hours in an indoor playground.

Luckily, by the time we reached the ferry the skies had cleared, and we had quiet sailing. Noga met a friend and spent most of the ride playing with her. Hadas was fascinated by the water. We slept in alovely holiday park in Picton, and continued our water adventures the following day. The area is riddled with 3 beautiful sounds (fiords). We sailed out on the Quees Charlotte Sound, where the boat dropped us off for a nice walk over the hill and to the other side of the narrow land finger. The day was simply gorgeous – the bluest skies, green bush around, and tourqouise sea all around – we couldn't have hoped for anything better!! The sail back included a cruise of several additional bays and coves. What a lovely piece of NZ !!!

Today, with similar (and even somewhat better) weather, on our way to the Abel-Tasman national park, we stopped for a short half-day hike – a nice walk inside a forest amidst trees and bushes, up to a lovely waterfall. The path was easy, and Hadas insisted and walked big portions of the hike. It's really great walking with the girls, explaining so many aspects of nature and other things we encounter. This is definitely a unique opportunity !

So far, we're liking the South Island very very much, and the weather has been just awesome!! You can't imagine what a major impact this factor has on our moods – just waking up to a clear day raises our spirits, and sets us in such a positive mood. Having experienced some less clear spells, we treat each sunny days as a special gift we were given, and go ahead to try and make the most of it! As you've probably understand, our adventures so far stand up to everything we could hope for !!

Love,
Hadas, Noga, Anat & Giora