Note the bristly needles of the male Rimu tree... Dan and Amanda led our companionable group of eleven travelers on 14 days of bush, mountain, stream, and seaside adventures that not only challenged us physically but also provided endless stunning photo ops as well as memorable natural history lessons that added depth, knowledge, and enjoyment to a flawless trip. It would be impossible to get this much out of a 14-day trip planned on our own. Besides scheduling all the best outdoor activities and tramping opportunities, Active Adventures has transportation, accommodations and meals down to a science. After hiking, biking, snorkeling, or kayaking, our group rolled into our lodgings, got a key or room assignment without fuss, hit the shower and then enjoyed a glass of wine and munchies while Amanda whipped up one of her amazing meals. She fed us like lumberjacks—tasty dishes as diverse as baked fresh farm salmon and Moroccan tagine. (And, yes, there was always dessert.) A safe, skillful driver of our comfy van, trip leader Dan was also a font of ecological, geological and historical detail, as well as Maori lore. We especially loved his telling of the tale about how the kiwi came to live on the forest floor. On the occasions when we finished our scheduled activities early, Dan always had a bonus jaunt up his sleeve that led us to some unexpected and breathtaking location. Our three-day Angelus Circuit backpacking adventure in the Nelson Lakes National Park was the highlight of our trip. It ran the gamut of challenge from pleasant hiking through a rolling beech forest, to a steep climb to a mountain-top cabin (hufff, puff), and then to an early morning scramble across rocky, wind-swept Robert Ridge with its unparalleled top-of-the-world views. Once again, meals, even on this remote stretch of the trip, were tasty and satisfying. And they were HOT thanks to the efforts of irrepressibly cheerful Active Staffer Dave who joined the trip briefly for the sole purpose of backpacking a sizable canister of propane up the mountain. Along the Angelus Circuit, we got to sample the “nectar†exuded in droplets on beech bark by wood-boring insects as well as see a pair of black swans gliding on Lake Rotoiti. Elsewhere we learned to distinguish male from female rimu trees by the feel of their needles and to identify the tui bird by his white “bowtie.†The Rimu Trip was a fabulous experience led by professional, knowledgeable and hard working guides who made every effort to insure our needs and expectations were met and exceeded.

| January 1970