South Island Trip so far...

New Zealand is divided into two islands, the north and the south. We have been living on the north island in Auckland which is the biggest city. Up until now we have enjoyed exploring all that the north has to offer especially its beaches for their summer months because the north island is more of a sub tropical climate. But as the weather has cooled in the fall season we wanted to explore the beautiful sights that t the south island has to offer. Since we arrived here everyone has been telling us that we HAVE to go see the south island so here we are.
We flew to Christchurch, which is the biggest city in the south island and rented an RV (b/c that’s the thing to do here) and mapped out a plan to see the sights. Christchurch is a beautiful city, especially now in the fall because it has the fall colors in the foliage. The novelty of being in a camper van was enough to keep the kids happy 
As we left Christ church we had a long drive ahead of us to our next destination so we took advantage of being self-sufficent and found a beautiful stop next to a beach where we stayed over night, only 30ft from the crashing waves..
In the morning Darryl sought out a place to surf with a famous right hand break while the girls and I did crafts that Tracy had prepared for us . We continued on driving in the afternoon to Able Tasman which is a national park and known for its isolated beaches and protected water. Our site at the motor camp here had a spectacular view of the snow capped mountains and glassy bay. The water there is so clean and clear its pretty spectacular. One of the things that draws people here is that it offers an amazing costal hike through thick rainforest and along golden sandy beaches. With the kids we had to find an alternative way to enjoy this beautiful park so we took a boat ride for the day that went up and down the coastline of the park which offered us all the spectacular sights that the park boasts, including views of the seal coloies, plus you could get on and off for the amount of hiking best suited to you. We got off and did a little 30 minute hike for the experience and were rewarded with a beautiful afternoon on one of the golden beaches exploring the caves and sea life.
(Side note: As I’m wrting this Darry has been lured by the ‘rollers’ he see’s on our drive and we are stoping for a spontaneous surf session, lol)

:Next on the agenda was the pancake rocks and glaciers but.again, because it was quite a drive from where we were, we found yet another amazing beach side lot to bunker down for the night. We were fortunate enough to arrive just at sunset and I was able to capture some amazing pictures of the stacked cliffs along the coast with the final pink hues of the sun. We also managed to collect some beautiful quartz rocks that help make up the pebbley beaches on the west coast. In the morning we made a short detour to stop and see the panake rocks. This was well worth the stop as it was one of the most amazing sights we had seen so far. Their were rows and rows of towering sea stacks, surge pools, and blow holes. Franz Josef is probably the most popular glacier and was only a short hike which was good for the kids. Unfortunately it was raining and a low snow line so it wasn’t the greatest weather for it but we managed anyway. The girls enjoyed it and were excited about seeing snow.
There is nothing boring about road trips around NZ. You can hardly nap or read as a passenger because the scenery is so amazing with its rolling hills and snow capped mountains, windy narrow roads, crazy signeage, sheep and cattle, crazy one-lane bridges and beautiful views of the ocean.

Please excuse spelling mistakes etc. as the internet we have been getting is horrible so I have to work fast :)