The local marine mammals seemed to enjoy the sun as much as we did on the Abel Tasman Coast Track. This fella weighed at least 300lbs and we ate lunch right next to him (fortunately he wasn't hungry).

Jeff Dunbar > New Zealand - S Island

The local marine mammals seemed to enjoy the sun as much as we did on the Abel Tasman Coast Track. This fella weighed at least 300lbs and we ate lunch right next to him (fortunately he wasn't hungry).

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Natalie celebrates our arrival on one of the most rugged and desolate beaches we've seen yet in New Zealand, near Farewell Spit on the ocean side of Golden Bay.

The granite sea cliffs of Seperation Point on the border of Tasman Bay and Golden Bay.

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Jeff Dunbar

Oct 7, 2007

“The local marine mammals seemed to enjoy the sun as much as we did on the Abel Tasman Coast Track. This fella weighed at least 300lbs and we ate lunch right next to him (fortunately he wasn't hungry).”

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Nearby Photos

A big battle scene from The Chronicles of Narnia was shot here.

Now that the Moereki boulders are exposed to the waves and wind, they are begining to erode again. Here you can can clearly see the honeycomb structure of the mineral deposits that created these wierd boulders.

Once again, we had this place to ourselves...

Looking straight down at the coolest 5.8 climb in NZ: Headbanger's Arete (grade 17) at the main cliff of Hospital Flat in Wanaka.

The trunk of the Franz Josef glacier, as seen from our helicopter window. Note the ocean is visible in the background.

The Abel Tasman Coast Track is loaded with pristine beaches along its entire length (51 kilometers). We only hiked about 10 kilometers of the track as a day trip, but we were not disappointed with the scenery...

Nope, not Castle Hill. This is the lesser-known, but equally as scenic boulder field at Elephant Rocks in the South Canterbury region. For a sense of scale, I'm the little spec walking out of the shaddow on the right side of this photo.

The main attraction at Moereki Beach is the cluster of bizarre globe-shaped boulders at the far end of the beach. For eons, these boulders grew like pearls from small mineral deposits in the otherwise sandy soil.

Back on the NZ mainland, we stopped at this remote beach on our way to Dunedin to observe a petrified forest by the sea (only visible at low tide). The lumps you see here are petrified tree stumps.

This is the grand plateau below Mt. Tasman and Mt. Cook. In the bottom left/center, atop the rocky outcrop, sits an alpine hut with a red roof. Every year, hundreds of climbers use it as basecamp for alpine ascents of Mt. Cook (left) and Mt. Tasman (right).

There were arches everywhere you looked...

This place was like Arches National Park by the sea...

I'm the tiny blue dot walking away from the camera...

Natalie celebrates our arrival on one of the most rugged and desolate beaches we've seen yet in New Zealand, near Farewell Spit on the ocean side of Golden Bay.

The local marine mammals seemed to enjoy the sun as much as we did on the Abel Tasman Coast Track. This fella weighed at least 300lbs and we ate lunch right next to him (fortunately he wasn't hungry).

The granite sea cliffs of Seperation Point on the border of Tasman Bay and Golden Bay.

More pristine beachfront property at Abel Tasman National Park.

The hot pools at Welcome Flat were pure bliss at the end of our 11 mile walk up the Copland Valley. On the sage advice of several kiwi friends, we packed in a nice bottle of wine to enjoy while we soaked away the pain of the trail.

Natalie took this killer shot of the snow and the ocean at the helicopter landing site at the top of the Franz Josef Glacier.

One quickly begins to feel rather insignificant in a place like this...

And these tiny Stewart Island Robins followed us everywhere we went (they litterally foraged for food in our footsteps).

This thing is about the size of a small medieval castle...

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On our next visit to the glacier (my 3rd), Natalie and I were accompanied by our kiwi climber friend Ruth.

I thought this sign was really funny, UNTIL...(see next picture)

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The Franz Josef Glacier is a stunning sight to see. From top to bottom its over 5 miles long. This is one of two glaciers on the west coast that extend all the way down to sea level. I believe this is the only place in the world where you'll find glacier ice surrounded by rainforest at sea level.

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Glacier ice is awesome.

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Dr. Seuss would've loved this place...

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After looping back down the west coast, it was time to strap on the crampons and head out for a climb on the Franz Joseph glacier. After ten minutes of hiking steeply up the terminal face of the glacier, we encountered this unusual 80' tall formation. Clearly this breaking wave of ice needed to be climbed...

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