Blue Waters Motel Nelson

Its me again :) sorry if Erika Bored you!
Day 9: Time to leave the capital, and on to the South Island. I didn’t know and maybe im not alone but i thought NZ was one land mass. Its not. So far we had travelled the down the north island which we thought was more about culture. The south was all about natural beauty, I couldn’t wait. A three ...

... The whole track can take 3-5 days to trek and you can camp on route but I wouldn't fancy carrying a full backpack on my back! We saw some kayakers which I would have loved to have done but not enough time. We left Abel and had a long drive ahead of us to get to Franz Josef. Ror and Niamh shared the driving while I sat back ...

... quick. I catch a good shot of them on top of water, but the Seal eventually gets bored with us and swims away.

We continue on our half day back to the starting point. Abel Tasman is very pretty. We are a little frustrated that it costs so much just to hike in the park. Not sure if we are being targetted as tourists, but the visitor center informs us that we must get a boat to drop us off in the park and then we can either hike back or hike a ...

... will later do an internet search and will confirm that they are indeed bed bugs!!... I am lucky it looks a lot worse than it actually feels.... Thank goodness Abel tasman has a lot more to offer than bed bugs!!! :o) I have a great day sea kayaking in the morning which is followed by a 30 min hike to reach our sailing boat which then takes us up and down the Abel Tasman coast. The weather gets better and better and we see seals and beautiful beaches. Our boat then reaches the ...

... t have wanted to miss these. Again a spectacular drive, much of it in rain and sun at the same time. I think we were lucky to get across Arthur's Pass yesterday as they were forecasting snow above 600m today and we were definitely above that yesterday! We're in an unusual hotel - more like a really upper class Butlins with cottages, rooms, a village green, shops, restaurant, pool etc just ...

... Von dort brachte uns ein Boot die Kueste entlang bis zum Ausstiegspunkt, von dem man nach Marahau, von wo wir wieder abgeholt wurden, zurueckliefen. Ich wurde dann halt wie gsagt 9 Km weiter oben rausgeworfen, von wo ich dann alleine mit dem IPod im anschlag loslief. Also wer mal nach Neuseeland kommt sollte unbedingt einen Zwischenstopp im Abel Tasman einlegen. Hier wandert man auf einem Kuesten Track entlang, an vertraumten Buchten vorbei ...

... where we got on our kayaks - we're experts now- and decided to go see some seals! Seals can abundantly be seen from a nearby island. As we approached the island not only could we see some lazing out on the rocks, but we could also smell them! Not pleasant. Apparently we caught them at mating season so the musk that the males give out actually attracts females. Moreover, we found out that some male seals live what many men describe the ...

... a Billy too! He also had stripy hooped longjohns and a stripy hat! Hehe, he looked funny! Lots of New Zealanders dress that way for tramping, its kind of a tramping uniform I think. The next lodge was lovely too and mummy had the best room in the house with a lovely view over the beach. It must have been really hard building a house there, everything had to be brought in by boat from Nelson so if you forgot any screws or something you'd have a long way and a ...

... disgusting wine too. She is pretty cool and is gonna be on my bus to Greymouth tomorrow morning and all the way to Queenstown. I did learn one random thing today, there used to be a cannibal Maori tribe in Nelson back in the day that Captain Cook befriended - they didn't eat him though, which is good I guess. I think I will come back to Nelson in the Summer it seems really nice, but this weather is just grim and who likes to be at the beach in the rain???

... bezocht. Er was een tentoonstelling over de Traffelger War, de oorlog halverwege de 19e eeuw hier, die geleidt werd door Lord Nelson (waar dit dorpstadje inderdaad naar vernoemd is) en die een heroische dood stierf. Gek genoeg lag er in het midden van deze tentoonstelling een masker van Napoleon. Nu is Napoleon bij mijn weten nog nooit in NZ geweest, dus wat doet dat kopie van een kopie van zijn dodesmasker hier?? Nou, Lord Nelson en Napoleon waren tijdsgenoten en aangezien Nelson ...