02 May 2009

South Island Trip March /April 09

By Kathy Corner and Shirley Ghozalli. Edited by Moira Blake.

Posing in front of the World of Wearable Art Museum, Nelson

Although winter was nearly here, a group of 8 IPC students managed to enjoy the last days of summer. They went for a 10-day trip, organized by IPC lecturer Kathy Corner. The trip, lasting from 28th March until 6th April, covered the northern part of the South Island.

Using an IPC van as their means of transport, they started the journey by going to Wellington and then crossing to the South Island on the Inter-island ferry.

One of the participants, Thy Hang, a 2008 student from Vietnam, described her experience. "I saw dolphins, penguins and seals for the first time in my life. It was great! I tried to paddle a kayak and it was a wonderful experience. As well, tramping was adventurous and interesting. NZ caves are so mysterious and beautiful."

"We all agree that this was a 'dream trip'. We really enjoyed the trip together. We had Japanese, Vietnamese and Chinese food every night and we loved it. We also got on very well together and had fun with each other. This trip made me feel that I love travelling more than ever. I will save money to have another trip in NZ or outside," Thy added.

Exploring the caves at Takaka Hill

And below is the full report from Kathy Corner:

The trip to the South Island came about because a student asked me several times to organise a South Island holiday, so I organised it... although in the end that student wasn't able to come!!

The group consisted of 3 Taiwanese, 3 Japanese and one Vietnamese, which was a great multicultural group and it ensured a lot of English was spoken. In fact, one student commented after the trip that she felt her listening skills had improved.

We toured the northern part of the South Island visiting Nelson, Abel Tasman National Park, Farewell Spit, the West Coast Punakaiki rocks, Hanmer Springs and Kaikoura, and were away 10 days.

Nelson was our first stop. After shopping and wandering around the city centre we drove to the aptly named WOW museum (World of Wearable Art). The creations were fantastic.

En route to Abel Tasman National Park we stopped at the beautiful Kaiteriteri beach where students discovered mussels on the rocks, so we picked a couple of bags full!!* and cooked them up that night for tea with lots of garlic (Vietnamese style).

We spent our third day sea kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park. This was a wonderful but challenging day. If you haven't kayaked before it can become hard work, especially if the wind picks up. The highlight of the day was Thy catching her first fish!!* Joey cooked the 5 fish that were caught in a delicious black bean sauce.

We drove over Takaka Hill and visited a magnificent cave mouth, where we had a steep climb of 30 minutes before reaching the cave. Yet another challenging, tiring day!

Making faces by interesting mailboxes (near Farewell Spit)

We stayed near Farewell Spit in a wonderful eco-friendly backpackers, which had a dry compostable toilet - something new to try!!! Once again there was seafood on the menu - Pipis that we dug out of the sand on the beach. Takako and Narumi went horse riding, which they really enjoyed. A highlight of the day was seeing a group of baby seals playing around in a small pool on the beach near Farewell Spit.

It was a long drive to the West Coast, interspersed with stops - lunch at the beautiful Nelson Lakes, gold panning in the Buller River, and looking at greenstone near Greymouth.

We stayed at Punakaiki for 2 nights, viewing the famous Pancake rocks, and walking up the Fox River to some fantastic caves. We had a big fire on the beach the second night - what a sight to see Jerry wheeling around in the dark with a flaming torch!!

No holiday would be complete without a trip to some hot springs - Hanmer Springs provided us not only with hot! hot! pools to bathe in, but also a couple of fun water slides.

Our last destination was Kaikoura where we celebrated the end of our holiday with a meal out at a Thai Restaurant followed by a soak in the spa. Shopping was also high on the agenda for souvenirs and the like.

Everyone had a wonderful time on this holiday - lots of laughter, new experiences, and wonderful food as well as some challenges. The weather was perfect bar one morning of rain. All in all, a very successful trip. Thanks to all the students for their great company and cooking!!

*Recreational fishing is regulated in New Zealand. Please refer to the fishing regulation on Ministry of Fisheries website.

Exploring the caves at Kaiteriteri beach	Enjoying the beautiful Nelson Lakes	Dinner at our lodgings in Abel Tasman National Park
Thy (right) and Reo playing at the beach near Farewell Spit	Kathy Corner at Farewell Spit	Gold panning in the Buller River

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