Trailways Hotel Nelson

... We then changed into our kayaking gear and Steve our guide gave us a few tips and instructions to help us on our way.<br><br>We first kayaked over to a small island which was home to a small seal colony where after only a few minutes Alex and Lee managed to capsize, but we also all managed to spot a few seals. One even dived in the water and swam around us for a bit.<br><br>It was quite a long and hard afternoon, about ...

... vernebelt (oder waren die Scheiben vereist?) zur Tanke geduest, weil mein Auto schon wieder alles ausgetrunken hatte. Die Fahrt bis Motueka verlief flach und gut. Hier musste ich 'schnell' noch etwas zu essen besorgen. Toll, dass der Supermarkt seit kurzem self-checkouts hat, die mir heute morgen stolz praesentiert wurden. An einer richtigen Kasse waere ich wohl schneller gewesen.. Dann musste ich ewig warten, bis ich wieder auf die Strasse konnte, der Verkehr war ...

... unsuccessful. The only other ATM in all of Mapua was out of order. A bit disappointed we went back to the first vendor and she accommodated us by taking US dollars. We rounded up a bit to ensure she didn't take a loss due to fluctuations in the exchange rate. For the second (smaller item), we scrounged out every NZ coin we had which was 60 cents short... and we gave our sob story to the vendor and of ...

Got the bus to our next stop of Nelson, sunshine capital of New Zealand - we even managed to squeeze in an hours break on the bus journey, took us to a really pretty river where we stopped for a little swim and sunbathe!! Ideal!! Arrived in Nelson which looked really nice, apparently a big meeting point for people coming up the south island and down from the north island so seemed nice and busy with some cute shops and restaurants in the centre ...

... tegen een enorme kei waarna ik met fiets en al over de kop op de track gesmakt werd. De fiets die gelukkig niks woog lag op m'n rug. De guide had die snel van me af gehaald en na inventarisatie van de schade bleek dat ik eigenlijk alleen een beurse knie had en een snee in m'n arm waar ik op landde. Even gezeten om de pijn wat te laten zakken en verder gegaan. Bleek dat ik m'n gewicht veel meer naar achteren moest verplaatsen zodat de fiets ...

... vans selling whitebait. Driving through the clouds was good fun, shame Mac couldn't see any mountains BUT he did get a glimps of Fox Glacier. Franz is a small town, but the local pub did a good steak sandwich. New Zealand rain comes down in big blobs and catches you out when you don't have a coat with you. Mac wanted to fly to Franz Joseph glacier in a helicopter, but the weather was too bad, lucky really as he doesn't have a pilots licence. On the way ...

... where we planned to camp for the night - the villages of Kaiteriteri and Marahau on the edge of Abel Tasman National Park. The former was a nice beach town where we'd thought we might rent a sea-kayak before realising how expensive they were and that neither of us were good enough at kayaking to make a 20km paddle at sea an enyoable prospect. Moving on, the road wound tightly along the coast providing few promising camping spots. We turned up a side ...

... for picton where i catch the ferry over to wellington and head a little bit up the coast before stopping for the night and heading on to taupo the next day. hopefully itll be a nice day for the crossing as theres meant to be lots to see and im looking forward to bringing a car onto a car ferry for the first time.... thats about it for now - before i sign off, big congrats to john &amp; mel on the birth of little baby oisin.... missing you all lots nic xx

Zondag 25 Mei Vandaag niet veel gedaan. Ik heb de was gedaan en ben door de stad gelopen. Een flauwe tweede hands markt bezocht. Maandag 26 Mei 'S ochtends naar het geografisch midden van Nieuw Zeeland gelopen. 'S middags een quiche gegeten bij dezelfde brasserie als eergisteren, heb een kop koffie ...