It is by the end of this year that I at last found time to finish my description of the New Zealand trip. First of all – I caught some virus and got sick on the way back – from Nelson. So the last days were the hardest. But as we all know – flying while the sinuses are getting inflamed-ￂﾠ is the worst way of spending the time :-). When the airplane is landing – the pain in the sinuses is such, that I was crying and singing – trying to ease it. And of course-ￂﾠ all this being high up in the air, maybe even the radiation we get there, made my condition worsen. So after recovering took place at home – I was too busy with spring and guests in order to sit down and contemplate on New Zealand. So here we are -we were still driving by Marlborough Sound towards Picton, stopped at a place where Queen Charlotte trek starts walked a little on it to get the feel. The waters on those sounds: 
Here we saw a lumber yard…Only in NZ can a place like this look so neat and tidy like this!ￂﾠ The tree trunks look like toys in tidy piles… 
Here is Picton, where ferries from North island come and unload, again, so neat and tidy:
I liked how they incorporate an old building into a new one with contemporary architecture: 
Then there was a stretch to drive and no particular places to stop or do things and on the other hand-ￂﾠ we had to rush. We saw the blue ocean on our left and nice hills and even mountains on our right:
We stopped 25 km before reaching Kaikoura because we read that this is a big seal colony living on the shores there and the seal moms go to give birth to a waterfall and a little pond near by, have their kindergarden there. Well, we were a little late. The waterfall was there. but the baby seals grew up and were already playing far away in the shore puddles or climbing their resting moms: 
And here is Kaikoura and the YMC Guesthouse where we stayed, the view form our window that faces the sea – can’t recommend it more. But…I am not sure what is left of it now after this new earthquake that hit Kaikoura badly this fall…
We drove to then end of the peninsular, there are sea lions presenting their flexible figures in nice poses, and also Crags – sea fowl, that at first look like penguins. but have longer necks:
And some pics from the center of Kaikoura – it has nice stores and restaurants and what I liked all through NZ – if hey have a wall or a dull bus stop – they always paint it with some cartoon characters or with their flora and fauna which they adore!
That and their humor, their talent in keeping everything tidy, them being so far away form the Western world and still following the fashions and trends in architecture, their strength in dealing with their shaking grounds, their generosity and welcoming, their appreciation of nature as a whole and protection of it in every step – I admire and will miss always…Part of my heart will always be there in the Right country, an example to the world!
Last views form the airplane – their rivers are wide and shallow:
The volcano Mt. Taranaki on the South end of the North island is looking through the clouds:
The extent of how far the water travels from the shores during low tide:
Auckland from above:
How they protect their fields from winds, maybe form some insects, too: