Nelson Trip, part 5

Last installment. Phew, now I don’t have to think about this anymore. Want to read the previous ones to refresh your memory? Here you go: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

We stopped at one other place on the way home—Maruia Falls. They were beautiful!

 

There’s something majestic about flowing water….

 

Caught him! He hates being photographed, so it was fun to get a non-blurry picture of him as he looked at the falls from the bottom of the hill.

 

The wet logs in the middle-right are part of a huge whirlpool. They were going around in a never-ending circle.

 

More of the family at the bottom.

 

We all enjoyed taking pictures of the falls!

 

Upriver.

 

You can see more of the whirlpool here.

 

I finally went down the hill. This sign made me laugh after I saw the strength and enormity of the whirlpool. I think anyone who even tried to swim would be foolish.

 

It was fun to have two cameras along—two different points of view!

 

 

 

Contemplating where to explore next…such a hard decision.

 

Down to the water!

 

I got the next brother down from the one in the last picture to sit on the rock for me while I took some pictures.

 

So pretty.

 

He tried skipping stones—I don’t think it worked very well, though.

 

 

The whirlpool, from the bottom of the hill.

 

Looking downriver.

 

Mom got down! With baby brother, too, of course.

 

Oldest and youngest brothers obligingly posed for me, as well.

 

 

After lunch, little brother explored.

 

 

 

Second-youngest brother accompanied me to the water.

 

 

And then we struck off for home again!

Riverbed along the way.

…and we got home! :)

It will be fun to share pictures of our fun times with Grandma, too. Hopefully it won’t take so long to get them up….

Don’t be surprised if there aren’t any posts for a while, though. Work on my website has slowly been going along, and I still have some things to do yet before it’s done. And with Grandma being here, I expect I’ll be one busy girl! :)

I guess we’ll see when I can post. For now, I hope you enjoyed the pictures.
-Esther

Nelson Trip, part 4

Another installment! Yes, I remembered! (Here are the links to Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.)

After leaving Split Apple Rock, we went around another place (I can’t remember the name). The tide was still out, and it was neat to see the boats grounded!

 

Scenery on the way back.

 

One our host’s horses—I saw this one as a new colt. I love his colors!

 

Their other horse.

 

View from the porch. The water in the left middle is an estuary. When the tide is out, it turns into a very slimy, muddy mud flat.

 

Another view from the porch. It didn’t turn out very well in this picture, but looking across this estuary (or whatever it is) in the early morning is something to see! It’s so pretty!

 

 

And then, early one morning, we began our trip home after a wonderful weekend.

On the way, we stopped at a lookout.

 

The scenery was amazing.

 

 

We headed back to the van, and just as we got there one of the boys noticed two wild guinea pigs in the bushes!

Dad suggested they might have once been tame, and then someone dropped them there.

Then we found another track, and admired the scenery some more.

The sky was so blue. And I love the flax stalks—they provide wonderful contrast.

 

 

 

Baby brother had fun riding on his big brother’s back!

On the road again.

Just one to go. Yes, I can finish this. I can, I can!
-Esther