The Cathedral Inn Nelson

... SWEET!
I love the sound of this place.It has breakfast everyday in bed or on your balcony.Any time you want it.the reviews have been glowing, so we want to try this place...so cheap, but with such wonderful staff and food, what more could you ask for:)
The $50 is for all of us..all taxes included. A-W-E-S-O-M-E.!
Breakfast free each day..this includes Nasi Goreng , spiced to your individual taste., tropical fruit platter, tea and ...

... tasting and all was very hard work and we were glad we had a proper lunch break at a restaurant at one of the vineyards we visisted. Quite a few of the vineyards have restaurants or little bistros where they offer excellent dishes of course complemented by the wineries' own wines.

On Monday we took the ferry from the North to the South island, which was apart from the usual stunning views pretty uneventful. Of course we ...

... again people were probably just being friendly in that nice New Zealand style ;) (the dvlni are definitely going to regret ever issuing me with a license!)

We collected our stuff from the hostel and headed off up north, where the motorway slowly turned into a nice little road with impressive views. Just to remind us that we were really in New Zealand - we passed a place called ‘sheep world‘ where luminous pink sheep grazed on the front lawn - yes we were ...

... one but once we saw the price tag, we changed our mind. We stopped at a road side fish BBQ place where we thought we could get some decent priced seafood, but the cray fish started at $58 each! We had some local mussels and some sort of white fish and it was delicious. We all stayed at a hostel in Kaikoura that had a heated swimming pool and a hot tub. So it was a nice break to get out of our little town for the weekend. Wes decided to cut his trip short by a few weeks and ...

... here, but I'm not quite equipped with camping gear, the right clothing for the season, etc. So I'll have to plan on coming back some day and doing it right. But at least Nelson is a nice place to spend a few days. They have a ton of sun every year, and even though the beach is nothing special, at least there is one. Plus, the ...

Travelled the short distance from Nelson to Motueka yesterday morning. En route, we stopped off on Rabbit Island - a recreation reserve with long sweeping beach. We also went to Mapua, a wee inlet on the other side of Rabbit Island. The inlet is overlooked by hills and has turquoise blue water - reminded us of the west coast of Scotland - just a bit sunnier and hotter! After checking into the accommodation in ...

... Beach. Initially we were just going to have a stroll and let the dogs run for a while to stretch their legs, and then we realised that we could drive on the beach. There were actually road signs with speed limits on the beach, and evidence that someone had been along and previously and done a few tricks! We continued on and on Saturday we crossed over the Cook straits to the South Island.

... As we drove to the airfield the driver explained that the wind over there is much lighter than on the Nelson side of the bay. It blows straight in off the sea and doesn't effect the flying !! Yeah great!!! :( Apparaently they only lost 6 days all last year, amazing when you think of Franz Josef!! Looked like all would be well for the flight after all. When we arrived at the airfield I had to sign a waiver form before I could fly. The most ...

We were really looking forward to today, we were going Whale Watching! However, part way on the journey to Kaikoura we found out that it was too windy and that none of the boats would be going out to sea. They were woried that the potential for excessive vomiting might detract from talking to whales ... We were very disappointed. So we implemented plan B! A walk up to the view point, stopping off at a fish stall on the beach and ...

19.59 - I finally managed to get the lie in that I have been waiting several days for now. Boy did it feel good as well! As we hadn't really planned to do anything today, it was a relaxed atmosphere when we were getting ready this morning. Instead of staying in this morning though, we decided to go to the Abel Tasman National Park. So, when we were all ready, we set off on our hour drive. Although we didn't stop anywhere, it took us longer than we thought to get ...