Awaroa Lodge Nelson

Well, if my mom knows one thing it's when to leave a vacation. The last evening in Queenstown was fun BUT starting at 7:30 this morning wasn't. We had the ride to the Queenstown airport, a plane to Christchurch, a 2 hour break, a TINY plane to Nelson (good news was dad had an isle seat but the bad news was it was also a window seat), an hour drive on VERY WINDING roads, had to wait 2 hours for the water taxi, finally got on water taxi (so happy that we were the only passengers- until the driv...

But it turns out there IS a God, and he is Great and Good, and starts work early on Mondays! The morning brought a clear and un-clouded sunrise over the Bark Bay low tide sands, and with it renewed hope. Naturally, we danced around on the sand whooping and singing in a particularly un-British way. As we set off, even my wet-through boots were no match for the morning sun and two layers of socks protecting my feet. We walked North towards the Awaroa inlet with a retired English couple and a yo...

After leaving my helpx place in a hurry together with my two German co-helpers, I got a full ride into downtown Nelson with another scary character, a very very lonely man. He sprayed half a can of greenhouse gas deodorant on and around his bald head, neck, and shoulders and I barely had time to roll down the window for some air. Close call!! :o) Nelson I visited to finally talk to the Vodafone people, to spend some money on more icebreakers (www.icebreaker.com and they rock!) and also to see...

Had a ride into Abel Tas and back with Kevin and Claudia... Kevin takes supplies such as liters and liters of milk and diesel up and down the windy gravel road to his boat and on to the Awaroa Lodge, a 5-star resort. On the boat ride, we saw two stingrays lazily moving aside as we drifted through the shallow water (you can only operate boats at high tide-- at low tide you walk!) and a pair of kingfishers showed off their fantastic colors, orange and blue. Had some spectacular views over the b...

So I might get cut off from writing this entry as it is 4am, I can't sleep, so I bought 30 minutes to type in the business center at the James Cook Grand Chancellor in Wellington. So if I don't finish this entry, I will be sure to do so when we get to Napier tonight. So where were we? Oh yes, on our way to Abel Tasman for our 3 day, 2 night journey to the Awaroa Lodge. We left the Cathedral Inn after a lovely breakfast with a group from England, two of whom currently live in Arizona. One of t...

January 2006 Oz, Pearl and Frags went to the Abel Tasman. We stayed at Anchorage and Awaroa Lodge.

Backpacking without backpacks (sort of). Hello to you all. We have spent the past few days tramping through the Abel Tasman National Park in the north of the south island of New Zealand. Abel Tasman was the first white man (who, of course, followed the first white woman) to set foot on New Zealand. The park itself is made up of miles of beaches, ocean view cliffs and bush trails. We started out from Nelson, a very "enlightened" little hippie/tourist town about an hour from the park. Andrew le...

January 2006 Oz, Pearl and Frags went to the Abel Tasman. We stayed at Anchorage and Awaroa Lodge.

We caught Supershuttle at 6:30 am and zipped through check in, leaving time for a latte from one of three espresso stands. Some backpackers had left a pile of luggage unattended while one ordered food and the other went for a pit stop, prompting police, dog, and dog handler attention. Two very embarrassed sleepy young men materialized and received little more than a short scolding, with all but the dog handler leaving with smiles. We did not have to go through security on our little puddle ju...

Well it is has been a little while since we updated our travel blog... so here is what we have been up to in the last couple of weeks. Before Christmas James and I began our kayaking/tramping adventure into the Abel Tasman National Park. The first day was a bit rainy, with periods of the sun trying to make its way out from behind the clouds. We were set up in a tandem FG sea kayak, given a few instructions and map, and made our way out to TePukatea Bay. We camped for the night in the company ...