Atholwood Luxury Country Accommodation Nelson

... the whole journey which was awesome :) . We arrived in Picton the port on the south island, and travelled to Nelson. Nelson is famous for being the centre of NZ, there is a point of top of a small mountain where the measured centre is actually located, we talked up and took up some snaps :). Not a lot else went down here, we were glad for a little rest.

... the downstairs so I stayed up top and braced myself.

Once up at Totaranui the first thing we did was eat lunch! After that we headed north away from where we wanted to go in order to both have a decent day’s walk and also see some of the native fauna and flora. Thankfully was had an excellent locally born and raised guide whose knowledge of the park and NZ in general was both encyclopaedic and cross-disciplinary. After the loop track we headed ...

... section. The bottom line is that it will cost us $80 US dollars to do a hike. Ouch, we decide to do the 1/2 day kayak and move on to our next destination.

Unsure of our current plan, Kristin and I want to make it 850 kilometers to Milford Sound. Although New Zealand is beautiful, we are thinking of possibly looking into a flight to Fiji or Tahiti to get a few days of sun after that. Kristin returns on the 17th and like all my trips, we are packing it in!

... low tide. As you can see from the picture of Steve, low tide was not low enough!!. This area has 16 foot tides and just to see the difference in low and high is unbelievable. They used tractors to launch and retrieve the water taxis during low tide. I had to take a picture. Waited until the last day to schedule our day kayak on Tasman Bay. The day dawned beautiful and clear but with 35 knot winds so ...

... Apple Rock. I want a picture of me in it!! and so i dive off the boat, swim to it and climb it... I'm a tourist and not ashamed to act like one!! :o)) doesn't do much good to my cold but hey what would you do for a picture in the Split Apple rock!!... And it is already time to leave... I could have stayed longer there. It would have been great to walk more of the coast track. It is stunning! The next day we are off to a small village down the west coast called Barrytown....

... of Nelson which is on the northern most tip of the South Island. We've had a lovely dinner in the restaurant and I think we're just about packed and ready for the coming adventure - although I'm sure I've forgotten something. Now the wind is blowing like mad so should be interesting! It will be a few days before I'm in contact again but will then be able to tell you all about our 'walk'. Maxxx

... Palmen und Farnwaeldern, ueber Haengebreucken (die so stabil sind, dass sie nur max Personen betreten duerfen (oder gar nur eine Person)), stellenweise ist man auch bei ebbe durch ein Art Watt gelaufen, auf dem Milliarden von Muscheln lagen, war echt atemberaubend! Zwischendurch hab ich mich noch verlaufen, ich bin auf eine Halbinsel zu einem lookout Point gelaufen, von wo ich nicht weiterkam, also musste ich wieder zurueck. naja war aber ...

... life. They are seals that do not live in seal families but still manage to sneak in and impregnate the females. Apparently studies have shown that more babies are born to these sneaking in males than the family males! As we arrived at the island- keeping in mind that 20 metres away is the closest we could get to it due its national reserve status- the smell was pungent but the seals were an amazing sight. Big agile well-camouflaged ...

... for tides to go back for what you forgot! Today was Janet's birthday so everyone sang happy birthday to her and started to loosen up a bit. The people on the trip were all English, apart from Kylie and Andrew, and Mike, Shirley, Janet and Brian were like nana and gp Es! They were funny and talked to me and mummy more after a couple of glasses of wine. Mike (from Essex) is the membership secretary for a mountaineering club. They don't just do mountaineering ...

... engels zitten oefenen (errug gelachen): het Koreaanse meisje noemt zichzelf Kelly (de meeste Aziatische mensen hier nemen een engelse naam aan, omdat die van hunzelf veel te moeilijk is en omdat ze dan gewoon een "mooie" naam kunnen kiezen), naar de hond van een vriend van haar die ze erg lief vond... hihihi....

De volgende dag nog steeds regen zonder eind en daarom maar de schelpen die ik graag naar huis wil sturen schoongemaakt. Verder veel gelezen en een poging gedaan om een ...