Day 15: The Pinnacles, Sheep Roadblock, & Black Beaches
Tuesday, September 10th
Up & at em’ before 7am today. We shower, make breakfast, and hit the road again! We grab gas from another BP, some waters & Powerade zero for our hike.
As we drive, we discuss how life is so crazy. We wake up, gather ourselves, and have the opportunity to explore this gorgeous world. We are beyond blessed. God isn’t good, he is GREAT.
We arrive at the Pinnacles and begin our hike. We decide to take the path that’s “closed”. Christopher read plenty of reviews that said it was safe to take, and it was the best views. Pro tip: follow the river, and take the trail that takes you through the pinnacles, not to the overlook. We had a blast hopping over the stream. Look out for the pretty yellow flowers/bushes- they are THORNS. Beautiful and dangerous. We took out the drone to see if we were heading the right direction, and Christopher found the way by flying his drone up. While he was doing this, I decided to goof off and workout with the rocks as weights. Wait until you see the video of me seeing a spider as I have a rock overhead. I can’t believe I caught it on camera. It was beyond comical. We continue our venture up. We had the best time taking photos and running around while flying Christopher’s drone. Being inside and looking up is far cooler. So definitely take this path! It was just over 3 miles, and we got a killer workout in by running around a bit. On our way down, we met a cool older couple from Tasmania, Australia. Once again, just another incredible moment where we meet great people and exchange travel tips and stories.
Once we arrived back to the camper… Christopher has repeatedly shown me how to open and close the side door to the campervan, yet I still can’t seem to get the hang of it. I joked and told him, “I do my things the highway”. You know the saying it’s their way or the highway. Well I do everything the hard way. LOL Christopher tries to help simplify my life. We are cracking up. Christopher sets up his phone and we make a cute little video, jumping into his arms and being silly.
Onto our next lookout point. We head to go to Cape Palliser lighthouse, but the road was far too narrow and unsafe for our van. We end up turning around, but the drive was beyond worth it. We saw so many sheep and baby lambs crossing the road, and the cows across the street were like our audience. It was so comical. We also passed so many black beaches surrounded by so many colorful wildflowers. The ocean is SO BLUE. You can even see the snow covered mountain top of the South Island across the way. I saw a seal, but Christopher missed it, because he had to keep his eyes on the road. We hop out to take some pictures in the middle of the street and with some wild flowers. There was also a random chair along the coast that made for some incredible shots. You could stop every minute for photos, the beauty is endless. We make lunch on the side of the road, then continue on our drive. Chicken in a bag of salad, digestive crackers, Nutella, & pb & j’s daily.
We then head to Wellington to go to another Top 10 Holiday Park. On our way we have to drive through the mountains. We went up to Rimutaka Hill Summit. The drive up was one of the scariest things ever in our campervan! We literally thought the route was taking us way around the mountains, but it’s impossible to go ALL the way around, and we still had to go through some of them which were HUGE. He did an incredible job driving. There’s no way I would’ve driven that on the right side, let alone the left and in a campervan. Not to mention, it was insanely windy AND rainy. As we got to the summit we ran around, got more crazy photos. Christopher got us up and down safely.
We arrive at our campground and there is another jump pillow. We are SICED. We immediately take off our shoes and start jumping around. This counts as my second workout for the day, that’s for sure. We then goof off on the playground. Another tip, if you’re single and dating, or hoping to one day meet “the one”, never settle until you find someone you can act like a child with. You need to be able to be yourself. They should make you feel safe & secure so that you can be silly and playful. Young love will keep you young. True love does exist. Your last love should feel like your first, and everyday you’ll fall more and more in love. We are two adults running around like we are 16 years old. We are never growing up.
We meet a lovely couple in a campervan next to us. They are from Australia. The husband said they were 71, and they are planning to go to the States soon. I told Christopher that’s gonna be us when we grow up. Every time we meet older couples we always say “goals”. A relationship is something you have to work at each and every day. In church I learned, a “perfect” relationship is two people constantly trying to out serve one another. This has always stuck with me. Christopher and I always put each other’s needs before our own. We are always looking out for each other and always trying to help one another. We balance each other in our strengths and weaknesses. Fights don’t happen and anger never lasts, because we never point fingers. My parents taught me to never hold grudges. Forgive quickly. Laugh things off. Love always wins.
I couldn’t even tell you how many times Christopher and I say I love you to each other each day. This word can NEVER be over-used.
Today was just another best day yet. I journal as Christopher goes through all the photos on his camera and plans a route for the South Island, where we head this Thursday.
My highlights were sprinting down the pinnacles, seeing all the cute little baby lambs crossing the street, and simply all of our great conversations as we drove in appreciation for our life together. Christopher’s highlight was stopping at the lookout at the highway over the mountains. He said we both had adrenaline pumping when we got out at the top. I’m telling you, this drive was CRAZY. Especially when huge semis were passing by. Thank God for Christopher, there’s no way I would EVER do that alone or put my life in anyone else’s hands in a car other than my dad or brother. My three top men on earth! ;)
Okay, 9pm. It’s BED TIME!!!!
