Long Lookout Gardens Nelson

... for oz! It was a really lovely huge deserted beach. I walked around and took some pics and then we trekked back. I did do some accidental cantering and it wasn't all that bad, but coming down the steep hills was a bit tricky- Bungle lost his footing and stumbled and then slid down one rocky track- and I nearly got hit by a tree- but it was actually quite fun!! The whole thing was really good- one of the best things I have done. We then drove to Picton ...

So we're leaving the Pine Lodge and taking two short flights to get to
our next, and final, destination. We're getting used to the early wake
up calls and when the day starts like this you know it will be good.
Our friendly hostess, Sheila, explains our driving instructions to get
to the airport and we are "wheels up" at 6AM. The drive was beautiful
as well as the flights.

We enjoyed our trip around the South Island, taking in Queenstown, Lake Tepako and the Franz Josef Glacier. We had two weekends in Nelson with Nick and Anna including lunch at The Honest Lawyer where they got married 18 months ago (and we made them reenact the wedding ceremony as we hadn't been there)! We took the ferry to Wellington for a couple of days and explored some of the South Island vineyards on the ...

... on out at sea where the loonies swam miles around the coast and there were 10000s of them!! viki and i spent a lot of time at the beach.... nothing to do with the aussie surfers everywhere!!! on the way home from broadbeach one day viki decided whilst driving just to randomly start screaming at the top of her voice which made my jump sooo much that i just burst out crying.... just a funny moment i thought id share with you all! viki also managed to "steal my love ...

So, we despised Hokitika and duly moved on up the coast. Fantastic coast oad, a hidden gem. Very comparable to The Great Ocean Road in Vic but more rugged and moody, not as sunny. Very impresive. We stopped at Punakaiki and were again trapped in by our new worst enemies, the sand-flies. Why didnt any travel brochures tell us about them??? I had a cracking run the following morning down the Pohara river gorge which was like running back in time to ...

Me and paul got up at 7 or so didnt have much time to wash our clothes after our trip to the beach, so pretty much ended up bringing the same clothes on the trip to the south island, managed to fit it all in one bag. wooly got sushi for breaky! i had a sambo, then we got on a pretty small oplane, didnt check in our bags cos we only had one, then cos the plane was too small i couldnt fit it in the over head locker, so had to take up antoehr seat with it. the ...

... aan de andere kant van de brug. We vonden het beide eigenlijk niks waard. Na een dag gereden te hebben zijn we gestopt in Motueka op een camping. Wat de BIG4 campings in Australie zijn, zijn de Top10 Holiday Parks in Nieuw Zeeland. Nette dure campings. Na het doorkijken van wat foldertjes met activiteiten in het Abel Tasman NP leek het ons een idee om met een ferry naar een punt te gaan en vanaf daar terug te lopen naar de start van het park ...

... big ladder (no one is under neath me but its almost like a triple bunk bed height!!) there is an outdoor pool, spa, sauna, free breakie n soup! all for $20 a night!! staying for 2 nights...we didnt get to nelson until 4pm so that if i wanted to just stay one night and go to the abel tasman today then i would have had to really rush my bookings...and prep for being in the middle of no where!! So today i have gone into town...quite a long walk...and bought ...

... up and examines us before continuing to peck about in the undergrowth. Subsequent research suggests that it is a weka. It is 4pm when we arrive in Marahau. The campsite is right by the beach and is 1km from the start of the Abel Tasman track, a popular long distance hike through a national park of the same name. We enjoy a walk in the evening sun.

... Ales'. It had a warm fire and wheat free food on the menu. I found myself a little corner and ordered a glass of wine from the local area to go with my yummy thing with aubergine and hallumi cheese. It was very pleasant if not a little heavy on the balsamic vinegar ... Hark at 'er ... It was lovely and peaceful and I managed to get quite a bit of my book read. Then ... the live Irish music started. Ergh ... They weren't very good. All a bit tedious really, and then they got a whistle ...