There was not much to do in Franz Josef, so we headed to Punakaki to see the pancake rocks and blowholes early. We stopped in Hokitika, which is the jade capital of New Zealand. Jade jewelry and carvings are very popular in New Zealand, so they are common for souvenirs but its tends to be pricey, so we just looked. We tried to walk to a glow worm cave, but we ended up in a residential area, so we aren't really sure what happened. We stopped in Greymouth to get groceries and be surrounded by civilization for a while. We then headed off to the pancake rocks and blowholes at high tide so we could ensure some intense waves.
One of the blowholes
Pancake rocks
Marian and I doing some dance moves from one of our classes.
We checked into our hostel, which was one of the nicer ones. It was more of a condo and was separated from other rooms. It had its own kitchen, den, fireplace, and several bathrooms. It was nice to spread out after we had been a car for over a week and had been sleeping in rooms that we shared with ten others. We were still feeling adventurous, so we decided to go to the beach. It was really cold and only Josh went all the way in, but it was fun to laugh and run around. Marian and I chased each other around with sea kelp for longer than most people our age would have. That shows our mental state at this point. We went back to the hostel, had hot showers, and made a good dinner. I also encouraged the crew to take an awkward family photo pancake rock style. We all ended up lying on top of each other in the kitchen of our hostel.
Precious Family!!
We decided to play "real" monopoly, with the houses, hotels, and trading. After playing for 20 minutes or so, I realized I have a severe case of Nice Christian Girl Syndrome. I was willing to trade with anyone because they were my friends. I finally had to keep saying "you are not my friend!" and then playing so that I had a fighting chance. When I got into that mental state, I was capable of being ruthless and legitimately creamed them. I was pretty impressed.
A few others had showed up at the hostel and we were sad that we did not have the place all to ourselves. The condo was pretty big though, so we once talked to them a few times. When it was time to go to bed, the other people staying there were already in bed, so we snuck in quietly. The woman next to me was reading, however, and was definitely not wearing any clothes under the covers. I just tried to ignore the fact that I was going to be sleeping next to a naked stranger.
In the middle of the night, I had to go the bathroom (normal), but I had forgotten my phone and the room was so dark that I could not see anything. I decided the best method was to crawl down to my bag so that I did not run into anything. I ended up crawling onto Josh's mattress and I heard him moving, so I was hopeful he would not wake up with me towering over him. That would not be good for our friendship. I shifted over and kept crawling and found the stairs, so I scooted down on my butt, but somehow, in the sleepy state, I rolled down them and plopped on the floor. I started laughing, but I had to stifle it because everyone else was sleeping. I eventually found my phone and used it as a light down the two flights of stairs to the bathroom. I cannot imagine the struggles I would have had if I did not have the light.
Day 10
We had a low key morning and then headed to Motueka, which would be our base for Abel Tasmen National Park. The drive was, as always, beautiful, with lots of twists and turns. When we got to Motueka, we went to the I-Site to book our hostel (be so proud that I let this not be planned! The others worked on me not being such a "J" the whole trip). The I-Site lady also told us about a short tramp to Harwood's Hole, which is the 2nd largest sink hole in the world at 300 meters deep. As we were driving to the tramp start, we were in a large field and we came across some very intentional wooden structures. There were no signs or plaques discussing what they were. We are just hopeful it was not black magic related.
We then continued on our journey towards Harwood's hole. We passed one of the places where some of LOTR was filmed, which was pretty cool! We hiked up to Harwood's hole through rocky paths and tree branches. When we finally arrived we found that there are no ropes or anything to keep people from literally falling in. Some people abseil down and go caving, which sounds like a crazy idea to me. Jen and Josh, who are definitely some of the most adventure seeking people I have ever met, bolted to go explore. Marian went off on a safer, but still not sturdy path. I looked in the hole, felt content, and then climbed back. Mom award for sure! I then realized that this was my first time alone in 10 days and I cherished it. I spent some time in prayer and reflected on what was around me. It was a wonderfully peaceful moment with Jesus and exactly what I needed. Everyone came back and we headed back to car.
Harwood's Hole (I wish this picture captured the true immensity of it)
On our drive back, we stopped at a lookout of Moteuka at dusk. It was beautiful.
Moteuka
We went back to our hostel, made dinner, and watched the first LOTR with some interesting hostel folk. One of which was Richard. He was an older man by himself and was pretty strange. He liked to ask us awkward questions and essentially make up feel uncomfortable. Luckily we were there together, so we could laugh about it later.
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