Apex Motor Lodge Nelson

Abel Tasman National Park is one of the smallest parks in New Zealand but has a fantastic reputation as being one of the places you "must visit" and we can certainly see why. We spent three days here and also explored further up the coast along Golden Bay and Farewell Spit (the long thin bit which sticks into the middle of the ocean at the top of the South Island).

The park is named after the Dutch explorer who sighted New Zealand about a hundred or so years before Captain Cook ...

... hit the person behind you rather than you - unlucky Laura!!) Further north we tried our hand at wine tasting in Marlborough and came home with several bottles! We also hired a speed/motor boat out on the Marlborough Sounds, which was great fun. 'Surfing' in the wake of a mussel harvester ship was brilliant! In Nelson, kite surfing seemed to be the thing to do and although we weren't at the stage of standing on the surf board thing, it was ...

... I got settled into "The Bug" hostel, I took a look around and found some bikes that were free to use. So I hopped on one and went for a spin. I was done after 15 minutes. Hahaha, It's one thing getting used to driving on the other side of the road, and getting used to all these crazy drivers, but when I am put on a bike and have to go with the flow of traffic thougha round-about! No way ...

... plus rare dans cette région, on a même vu un dauphin: c'était un moment magique! Nous étions tous dans nos kayaks, et on avançait en groupe (5 kayaks en tout). C'est alors qu'un dauphin est apparu au milieu de nous et il nous a accomppagné pendant un bout de chemin. On aurait dit qu'il nous prenait pour d'autres dauphins. Comme si en nageant avec nous, il retrouvait la sensation qu'il a en nageant avec ...

... after this, and seemed to be able to keep the boat on track better then I did, so she steered the rest of the trip. Then we kayaked leisurly for a bit after tea, but had to step it up to get through the choppy bit called Mad Mile. Even though we were not very strong in our arms, we seemed to get through the water well, luckily! I had visions of being way behind the group and needing a tow to get us going! For lunch we stopped at another ...

... the Able Tasman National Park. This was a fantastic scenic drive and was also included a stop to look at the longest swing bridge in New Zealand. It was a suspended footbridge and I don't know how much longer it is than any other, because it didn't seem that long. We were a little uninspired and decided not to pay the (rather high) entry fee to walk across it, or to ride the flying fox (a zip line with a seat instead of handles) that passes alongside. I did take a ...

... noon we started our 4-hour walk back to Marahau. On the way we enjoyed the magnificent views from the hills along the coast of the National Park, where beautiful beaches are surrounded by deep green forest. After a short stop in Apple tree bay, we reached Marahau around 18:00 (yes, we did make quite a few stops on the way). Our plan for a nice fancy Christmas dinner in Marahau was soon torn into pieces, as we realized that no local ...

... morning's walk we would be picked up by bus - assuming that the road was passable of course ... If not, we'd have to walk back the way we'd come back to a point where the road was passable! What fun! We got ourselves together and headed on to a little "barge" which took us to the start of the 3rd day of walking. It was very wet and I stayed well and truly in mummy's pocket so I didn't get lost in the water! As we were coming in to the other side of the estuary ...

... that was part of the Crimean War, an Australian convict transport and a New Zealand settler ship. After all this she was a frozen lamb store, a coal hulk and then a wreck for 20 years, before being towed to her present dry dock. Highly atmospheric and educational - I won't complain about the flight here again, at least it doesn't take four months!

Then it was a twisting two and a half hour drive to Hopewell, right at the mouth of ...

... heerlijk zonnetje en besloot ik maar eens een soort-van hike te gaan doen: de heuvel op naar de Center of New Zealand. En jawel, tuurlijk ging ik de verkeerde kant op. Ik liep dus een andere track, maar kwam toch op de
juiste plek terecht. Toen ik later weer naar beneden liep, kwam ik erachter dat mijn weg toch een stuk minder steil was dan de echte weg naar de Center! Hihi, zie je wel dat dit soort foutjes soms zijn voordelen heeft!

Kerst was gezellig, 's middags om 12.00 ...