Two weeks of fun and work

No internet for a while has made it hard to update, but we're back! We've spent the last couple of weeks in the Northwestern corner of the South Island, hiking and kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park, biking around Takaka and Golden Bay and working on a farm. We left Sandra and Ken at Te Hapu farm yesterday after a great week wwofing (working for food and accommodation) for them. We've done everything from planting potatoes and organising a shed to digging a huge whole and demolishing a garage. We even got to be a part of the annual sheep shearing! We were wool pressers and our job was to press the wool and move the sheep between differnt pens in the shearing shed. It was such a cool experience! The spectacular views and great food didn't make our week any worse!

We spent the whole day yesterday driving thorugh pouring rain from Te Hapu down to Westport, where we are now. There's not much to do here (except taking advantage of free, unlimited internet at the library!) so we're heading down to Greymouth and our next wwoofing place today. Here are some pictures from the past week :)

Letting out our inner dancers at Pupu Springs, the world's largest fresh water spring.



Amanda is a Chinese tourist at Rawhiti Caves, a gigantik cave in Takaka.



Hiking the last part of the Abel Tasman Coastal Track! The track went through rainforest and along beautiful beaches and we had an amazing day!

Abel Tasman Coastal Track

At the top of Gibbs Hill! After a relatively easy walk along the coast the track went inland over Gibbs Hill. It was STEEP and we were tired after a whole day of walking.  Every time we turned a corner we were hoping that it would be the last but the hill just seemed to get longer and longer... The views from the top made it all worth it though!

Our last day in Abel Tasman National Park! We rented kayaks and paddled along the coast, from Wainui to Wharawharangi Bay. We stopped for lunch and a swim at a desterted beach and enjoyed a couple of lazy hours in the sun before heading back.

Te Hapu farm, just outside the house!

Caroline driving the jeep!

Ready to demolish the garage!

On the garage...

Happy carpenter!

Te Hapu farm

An afternoon walk through the sheep paddocks.

Demolishing was FUN!

Shearing day. Amanda, Caroline and Sandra moving the sheep between pens in the shearing shed.

Shifting sheep!

Travis and Roger, the two shearers. It takes them about a minute and a half to shear a sheep!

The shearing shed