Nautilus Lodge Nelson

We stopped overnight in Nelson and were suprised just how big the town was! The main centre of town had a tonne of shops (which is always something that pleases me!) including several supermarkets, Farmers (similar to Myer), The Warehouse (which is more like an ...

... it, this was the day we would do a skydive!!! (By the way, the night before we had spent another fun night looking for a DOC campsite - again we didn&#8217;t find it and again the orange petrol light was burning furiously - will we ever learn?!) <br><br>Full of nerves we drove down to the airport where &#8216;Skydive Taupo&#8217; are situated. The whole thing was over before you could say &#8216;skydive&#8217; - and memories are pretty vague due to all the adrenalin etc ...

... of fun. The front of the boat was the most affect part, so naturally Josh and the rest of the boys went and sat at the front, to watch the massive waves and feel the full affect. After an hour or so everyone was feeling a little rough, so retired to the back for a snooze and an ice cube (they help apparently!)<br><br>Once we had landed in Picton it was a short journey to our home for the next 3 nights, Nelson ...

... mon goût (pas selon GC). La deuxièeme journée nous avons fait un circuit de plus de huit heures de marche qui nous a amené sur le dessus de Gibb's Hill (409 mètres). On pensait avoir perdu notre chemin lorsque nous avons apperçu la pancarte des directions. Évidemment, j'avais raison... Nous sommes arrivés au camper épuisé mais avec un sourire de 96 dents! Ensuite nous avons marché sur Cape Farewell et son Sandspitt, la partie la plus ...

... through fern forest and over a long swingbridge (my 1st one...hahaha quite scary but very cool!!) when we arrived at the falls it was gobsmacking....must've been like 20m high!!! tons of water pounding down it!!! had some pics of the two of us and took some vid too!!!! then back to the hostel....we were soooo tired, sooooo hungry and felt sooooo grubby hahahaha couldnt decide what to do 1st...shower, eat or sleep!!! anyway, we then went to the cinema that night ...

... Te Mania where we tasted some great whites and a Pinot Noir. Dave was driving and anyway drinks little, and Barb Prowse is not a white wine fan, so Barb and I did very well, getting to taste their shares as well as our own.  We visited three more small wineries during the course of the afternoon and had a light lunch, as well as tasting some lovely olive oil and preserves. Most of the wines ...

... seems to be really nice (with the same name as the bus driver on the North Island which was 'Greg'). Our first stop here is Nelson where we arrived in the afternoon, so that this time there was enough time to walk around the city (it's more like a large village) and even do a small hike up the closeby hill where there's the geographical center of New Zealand.

... which had to stop on many occasions to clear debris from the road. Eventually we reached tarmac, I gave the bulldozer driver a honk and a wave of appreciation and continued on the road to Nelson. By this time, the rain was once again torrential and the surrounding fields were completely flooded, the rivers and numerous bridges bursting with dark brown flood water. The road was pretty dangerous with over a foot of standing water in places. Regardless I carried on ...

... to tell me that it was 30 minutes walk from the botom of the hill to the top and NOT 30 minutes from the hostel to the top ... Armed with this information I took a wee walk up a hill and had a lovely view over Nelson City and the surrounding area. Very pleasant. The rest of the afternoon was spent mooching in the many Arty, Crafty shops, walking up to the Cathedral - not very appealing - and looking for some water sandals that had appeared of my kit list for the tramp. I wouldn't care ...

... picnic en la playita y continuamos bordeando las arterias. las vistas son impresionantes y se podian visitar comunidades de pinguinos, pero yo no las vi, aunque si que vimos focas tomando el sol cerquita de nosotros. El dirko me tiene que aplacar, pero es que cuando veo los animalitos, yo no se lo que me pasa pero me encantan. Y en mi estilo les hablo y esas cosas, y como ibamos con otras dos parejitas, el dirko siempre me tiene que acallar ...