Abel Tasman (weekend 4)

This weekend I went to Abel Tasman. We took the 2:30 am ferry which was a horrible experience. Then we got our rental car and drove out to Motueka where our hostel was. The South Island was actually much more beautiful than the North, even only touching the very tip of it.
That first day we went to the beach at Kaeteriteri. I was the only one to go in the water for most of it until Jessica came and joined me. I also climbed a rock and checked out Tide Pools. It was my first beach experience in New Zealand (finally!).

 Picton (where the ferry lands)

 Fully automated bathroom (from toilet paper to the door to get in)

 View as we drove

 Kaeteriteri beach

 Mara awkwardly ill dressed for the beach in the background...

 Rock I climbed

 Sun star

 Split Apple Rock

 From the other side on the water taxi the next day

 There are baby sea lions in this picture (they were adorable)

So the next day we took a water taxi to Anchorage in Abel Tasman National Park in order to begin our canyoning expedition. The pictures are taking forever to load so I'll post/comment them later. (They're all on facebook right now anyways). But I did jump off a just over 26 foot waterfall, slide off a waterfall that was at least 15 feet high, zipline for the first time, and abseil. It was exciting.

Yesterday we made bone carving necklaces. Mine turned out completely different from everyone else's. I wanted to make a koru but as it is just a spiral I needed something more to it. The koru is designed to mimic the unfolding of the fern ( a very special plant in New Zealand culture) and it means new beginnings, growth, and unfolding life. I put it on the back of a turtle which apparently don't exist in New Zealand. But it turned out cool. I didn't polish it, but stained it instead so it looks nothing like what you'd find in a store.

 Beginnings as a drawing on cow bone. I had to saw it out.

 After first grinding

 A few grindings later. I lowered the legs and head to make it 3d. My design didn't work with engraving though.

 Post engraving

 Swimming in tea

 Post staining and some sanding. There is so much sanding involved in making bone carvings