Takaka Weekend

Jenna: Wow, can't believe it's been almost a week since the last post! To pick up where Rob left off, we went to see Funny People on Tuesday night, which was followed by the most miserable night of the trip for me. Not sure what I ate, but I was throwing up all night and feeling horrible. Since being sick in a van is not fun, I insisted we check into a hostel Wednesday morning. Rob went off and found himself a temporary job digging holes while I curled up and recovered. Luckily feeling much better by Thursday.

I interviewed for a temp ad sales job - which I didn't get - but the agency offered me three weeks of receptionist work at a law firm instead. Bingo! I dropped Rob off to his first day of work and went in search of a place to live for the next three weeks. We settled on the Franklyn Village Apartments. It feels like a cross between a dorm and a psych ward, but we have our own bathroom (luxury!) and decent cooking facilities so it was the best option on short notice.

It was pouring rain all day Friday, so Rob got called off the job early and we spent the day shopping for work clothes for me. How every boy wants to spend their Friday afternoon! We got up bright and early Saturday to b-e-a-utiful weather and jumped on Highway 60 north for a weekend in Takaka. It had snowed the day before at higher elevations, so the mountains were capped in snow. Our first stop... Bencarri Nature Park. You pay $12 to go in and they hand you a bag of food to distribute to hungry emus, yaks, llamas, sheep, cows, deer and more. But the real draw is getting to feed wild freshwater eels in the river next to the park. Armed with a stick and a glob of raw meat, we trekked down the trail to the 'feeding spot'. We tapped the top of the water with our sticks (as instructed) . . . no eels. We stuck little pieces of meat in the water . . . no eels. We tapped again . . . finally some activity could be seen in the water. One by one the eels made their way up to the water's edge. Some were a little slow - you practically had to bonk them on the nose with the meat for them to grab - but others really put on a show, stretching their open mouths way up out of the water for us to drop meat into. Very weird experience! You can also touch them. Their skin was very smooth and velvety-feeling. Not slimy at all.

Next on the Takaka to-do list... short walk to the world's clearest springs. Very pretty water! Next we ventured to The Grove, a walk through a number of strangely-shaped rock formations finishing with a view of the valley below. We grabbed some fish 'n chips for dinner, a couple beers, then slept out in the camper under the most amazing ceiling of stars. It was so dark out there it was amazing. Sunday morning we took a hike to Rawhiti Cave. About thirty minutes up a cliff led us to the cave opening - a massive wall of stalgmites (right?). We climbed around for about an hour before heading back. Then it was back to Nelson to get ready for our first full week of work in months! Kinda looking forward to it actually. What a fantastic weekend!

You can check out more pictures of the trip here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jenna.pitts/Travels2009October?authkey=Gv1sRgCLuO5PyW3dGPEA&feat=directlink