Rutherford YHA Havelock

... need a dentist! And they had a pink sheep, who looked a lot like Lu since she was also dressed in pink today! The funniest part was when the huge Scottish shaggy cow with huge horns head-butted me! It did not hurt but it was funny. I also rode a bucking bronco barrel and did not fall off, even though Mom and Ginny really tried! This afternoon we are making a fire at our house and staying warm. We hope the sun comes out tomorrow so Ginny can ski-dive!

... day with a swim and snorkel in the sea...was so refreshing but too cold for katherine!!!! the boat picked us up at 3pm and we eventually got back to picton at 4:30pm after more trips round different sounds! It was a great day out, very good value for money at $61.50 for the boat which gave us entertainment from 10am-4:30pm!! Very amazing scenery too...WOW OH WOW!! Then today we havent really done much, just poodled around town...went to the bead gallery and bought bone carving ...

I'm in Nelson to begin 5 days on the Abel Tasman track along the NZ coastline. Nelson is a beautiful little city about which I'll write more after the hike. Just a pin ...

As we left Franz Josef it was still raining, luckily to road north was still open. The road south had been closed by a landslide and since there is only one road south there were several coaches that were going nowhere today!!! We stopped at a place called Hokitika for a cup of tea and a stroll round town. It is a typical New Zealand town, just a couple of street with the sops etc and the rest are full of bungalows. Yes, it was still raining!!!! Our next stop was at the ...

... Eek! If I hadn't have had half a glass of wine left I would have left. It got a bit more interesting when the bodrun came out, but not that interesting ... Having finished my food and wine and at last, fed up of out of tune singing I headed back to the hostel but it wasn't just the bad singing that drove me out ... There were a couple of German girls from the Magic bus in the place, but they obviously didn't fancy a night of speaking English to the English bird on her own all ...

... walk around the town. Apparently Nelson has the nicest climate in New Zealand and sees the most sun. I stayed in a really warm and welcoming hostel called Tasman bay Backpackers, where I met some really lovely people. The following day I was up early to go for a walk in Abel Tasman National Park. There were 8 others from the bus on the tour ...

... I returned, rescued Norah and we set off northwards. Now there was only the one road heading north, which ran along the coast at the side of the railway, the two criss-crossing between the sea and the cliffs. At 'Ohau' we stopped to look at another seal (sea-lion) colony and chuckled as a trio of young pups played in a rock pool. The coast here was quite rocky with very few beaches. The occasional small beach was black lava sand, which looked picturesque with ...

... rejoins. En se levant elle a reveillee Ben qui a voulu se joindre a notre mission Nous avons donc rejoins le haut du campement pour rejoindre une grosse partie mais ce n etais rien que deux gars qui ont mis le son super fort ils etaient carremen defstone ils nous propose a boire a fumer nous avons passer une super nuit nous avons pas bcp dormis car nous avons accompagne Stas et Exster au Ferry le matin tres tot ...

... ll be right along and grab up what's necessary for this adventure. We are the only riders for the wine tour, so he asks us about our preferences before we head out. He takes us to Mount Riley first, a relatively new vineyard with a modern tasting room. We try several varieties and like them all. Our faves were the 2007 Sauv Blanc and the 2007 Pinot Gris, which has become the white wine we can enjoy together. The woman who serves us tells us the history of the winery and gives us ...

The water taxi for Shag Point, our drop off location, left at 10am. There was only one other hiker with me today, a 40 year old woman from Wellington named Teresa. On board the boat was an elderly couple with their grandkids headed for a holiday home somewhere in the Sounds, as well as a young couple doing some camping in one of the inlets. We were the first ones off. Our stop was little more than a gravel bar along a cliff. The captain ...