Wwoofing, Water and Glowworms

Since last update we have kept very busy. Summer season is getting underway and it’s warming up on the South Island. The towns are getting more crowded as tourists and local vacationers are pouring in from everywhere. We camped by the beach at Ruby Bay for a few days before heading back over to our wwoof hosts near Mapua. We spent another week enjoying their company and the beautiful surroundings while working. We worked repairing a shed and ridding the garden of an invasive vine. One night while we were there, we drove into Nelson to meet up with our friends and stayed out to the wee hours of the morning listening to their band and meeting other travelers. On Sunday we left the farmhouse and host family to start our journey to south to Christchurch.
Our first stop along the way was Pelorus Bridge. We had first seen the Pelorus River during our journey between Picton and Nelson a few weeks ago. We didn’t have much time to enjoy it then, but we promised ourselves that we would come back later to explore; and we definitely did that. The first day at Pelorus we read books on the rocks above the river and took a morning walk on which we got to see Kiwis for the first time! We’ve seen lots of the fruit and the people, but we had never seen the birds before. Most people, in fact, don’t see Kiwi Birds in the wild here. They are extremely endangered and very shy, so we were lucky. Later that evening we saw a rimu (morepork), a small NZ Owl. The Second day, we took a hike that led us to two waterfalls. That afternoon we swam in the crystal clear river. Later that night we went on a glow worm walk. Little green lights lit up the forest like faries. The next Morning, after two full days at this beautiful place, we were ready to continue heading to Christchurch, but first we went for one more swim in the Pelorus River. We were soon interrupted by two busloads of backpackers stopping to do exactly the same thing!