Akaroa and Garden Shows

This is at the garden show we stopped at on the way back from Akaroa...in NZ, "Garden Show" = Country Fair, complete with belly dancers, irish dancing demonstrations and small flexible children in poodle skirts kicking up their heels to Elvis.

And this is on the ridge road looking east towards the the coastal bays....

West Cost and Garden Shows

Just got back from a 40km trek up the Copeland River valley to Welcome Flats...what a hike and what a spot...the hotsprings there are still pristine and un-developed which meant we got to squidge around like mud puppies in the mineral laden mud and soak to our hearts content! We had a heavy rain warning that night (Saturday) so we packed up early the next morning and were on the trail by 6am! Time does not exist in nature beyond when it is light and when it is dark. We walked like deamons all the way back and shaved an extra hour off our in time...this suspension bridge was kind of freaky...within the first two feet of it several of the metal stabilizers were broken and hanging at odd angles....but what's an adventure without a little fear right?