So...Nelson, New zealand--- the sunniest spot in the country! I've stripped down a couple layers here, down to thermals and shorts and only one long sleeved shirt :) Woohoo! 
Last night was a huge travel day from our glacier hiking capital (Franz Josef) up the western coast of the South Island to the famous Golden Bay. We stopped at a greenstone 'jade' factory to learn why this stone is so precious to the Maori tribesmen. Greenstone can only be gifted, to buy one for oneself is considered extremely bad luck, and to receive it as a gift means you've become someone quite important to your people, your tribe, your family. They believe that greenstone holds the power of past ancestors, and every piece carries the mana "power/ life force" of its previous owners. They are in dress, costume, tools and most often as a sacred symbol of rank for warriors. After that we stopped at the Cape Foulwind NZ fur seal breeding colony again---I will never get tired of seeing baby wild seals playing in the sun! And on to Nelson, our kayaking, quad biking and sky diving destination! Today was another day though, and a damn good one if I may add! I went kayaking for the full day. After a beautiful 2 hour hike through forest, ferns and coast lines, and while kaayking around the bird sanctuary of Adele island a group of wild seals swam up and around our kayaks and we even spotted NZ penguins, incredibly rare to catch a glimpse of! After kayaking, straight to our sky diving operator. I got a great video and over 100 photos taken of me! SKYDIVING! I can't find the words to explain the rush or how beautiful it is to sail through the air at 13,000 feet! Hopefully the pictures say it all :)
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