Anakiwa-Queen Charlotte Track

Gemma and I took a midweek trip over to Anakiwa, in the Queen Charlotte Sound with my Aunt Tania. Tania is friends with a couple that work at the Outward Bound School there so we spend some time hanging out on the school grounds seeing what that is all about. Gemma enjoyed jumping on a trampoline, swinging, chasing the sheep, and hunting down two lost chickens. She loved feeding the chickens when we finally found them!
We stayed at the Anakiwa backpackers which couldn't have been in a more perfect spot! The sound stretched out in front of the backpackers lodge and the entrance to the Queen Charlotte Track was right there too. Check out the website for a better idea of where we were: http://www.qctrack.co.nz/photogallery/ The track is popular for day hikes and overnight stays. It takes about 4 days to do the whole track. You can also hike out and catch a water taxi back from one of the many bays. The track is great for mountain biking too! This is my idea of heaven of earth! The bush is full of the native birds. I thought that bird watching was for old people until I came to New Zealand. Ben and I's favorite is the Tui. It has the most amazing sound of any bird! You can find a picture of it here and hear it's sound (although it's much better in the wild) http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/gallery.html look in the first column. We also saw a Pukeko and heaps of oyster catchers, garnets, wood pigeons, and a few others that I don't know the names of. We did a beautiful hike for about 2 hours, just to Davies Bay and back. I tried to take a few pictures of the native bush during our hike.

The twirly sprout in the middle of the second picture is a Koru. It's the first sprout of certain types of ferns and it's symbolic, especially in the Maori culture. (New Zealand Natives). It symbolizes new beginnings or fresh starts. I love that.

Gemma was stretching her legs out at Davies Bay. She loves the beach, heck, she loves anything outside! That's my girl!

Tania hung back at the lodge while Gemma was napping and I had a chance to explore the coast in a kayak.

On our way in, we stopped for a roadside picnic. What a view!

Gemma had her first swing in a hammock....

A nest of garnets, or maybe they are called cornets? I can't remember. Tony - any help?

My baby girl smiling for the camera. She is finally getting used to me taking 6 million pictures of her everyday!

Gemma enjoyed playing alongside one of the inlets caused by the changing tides. The tides are dramatic in NZ. When the tide is out, it's way out.

We also enjoyed a morning at a Steiner playgroup as part of our trip. Steiner was started in Germany, (Austria?) and it's a unique philosophy on child rearing. Actually, it's not that unique, it just goes back to basics and is very simple. Ironically, I have never heard of it in Germany, but it's gaining popularity in NZ. They support a lot of homemade crafts for kids and a lot of 'natural' learning for children. Things like creative play are encouraged. Dolls don't have expressions on their faces so that the kids can create their feelings...that type of thing. It's very hippy in a lot of ways, but I definitely like that they are big on letting kids be kids, letting them play outside, climb trees and get dirty!

It was a great trip!