*Our next destination after Koh Samui was New Zealand. Here we saw my partner's family and friends, and also exposed ourselves to the great nature of the country. New Zealand is called 'Aotearoa' in Maori language, which literally means 'Land of the long white cloud'. If you see the photo below, you would understand why they say so... Beautiful, isn't it?

We spent some time at my partner's sister's house in Christchurch, where we played with her little sons, who are very very energetic. It was funny to see my partner playing Sumo against the boy, quite seriously...lol. At his parents' house in Wellington, we had a small family party and I made sushi for the family. In New Zealand we can buy sea urchins,which are called 'kina' (this is Maori language as well) at super markets. In Japan sea urchins ('uni') are one of the most common sushi ingredients, so I was pleased to find them in NZ. I made salmon, prawns and sea urchin sushi, using the sushi-rolling machine that my partner's dad bought for me. It was very easy to use, considering such a lazy person like me could use it... ha ha ha. mmmmm....yummy.

We enjoyed walking around the city of Christchurch, the combination of old things and new features of which was stunning.
punting on the river Avon, Christchurch
tram in the city of Christchurch
the object at the art gallery in Christchurch
After spending some time with family and friends, we travelled to Abel Tasman National Park located in the north part of the south island. A Dutch explorer Abel Tasman discovered New Zealand and Australia in 1643, and this national park was named after him. The area is full of local animals and plants, including
Tui (bird),
Silver Fern (NZ's national plant), seals, dolphins, and so on... The sea water is turquoise blue, the sky so clear... gosh, it was awesome.
couldn't see dolphins, but saw some seals around this areaThere we did sea kayaking. It was my first time I tried it, but I think I did well... On the other hand my partner was struggling because the seat of the kayak was too small for him...
us, sea kayakingNext day, in spite of the terrible storm, we went trekking in the jungle. Here we saw a Tui and lots of ferns. The weather was awful, the temperature was 3 or 4 degrees, the crosswinds hit us so hard... we walked shaking, soaked with rain... we looked just like drowned rats...! And can you guess how long we walked? The answer is... 17km! 6 hours!!! Please, say 'Well done'.
tree ferns. beautiful plant
it was bloooooody cold!!
the mystic landscape of Abel TasmanOops, I shouldn't forget about hot spring! We stopped at a spa on our way to Abel Tasman. This spa,
Maruia Spring, is managed by a Japanese staff and the appearance of the outside pools are just like Japanese Onsen! I felt like as if I was a Japanese monkey in a hot spring... It was good... I remembered I was Japanese...ha ha ha. I strongly recommend this spa.
bath looking at mountains... 
heaven...
So, we enjoyed both the cities and the nature in New Zealand. And this is the appealing point of this country I think. It takes only 1-2 hours from modern cities to the most beautiful land of nature. Not only because it's my boyfriend's home country, but because of so many amazing features I am fascinated by this land. It was my third time in this country, but I would love to visit here again and again, to know more about it. And I would love YOU to experience this wonderland as well...:)
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