Country Comfort Kingsland Court Nelson

Our packs were packed and lunches prepared. We met the bus at 8 AM for our trip to Kaiteriteri and our trip into Abel Tasman National Park. Abel Tasman’s track requires 4 days to hike, but we were able to do just a section of it by taking a tour with Sea Shuttles that provides a water taxi service. The bus transported us to Kaiteriteri which is a beautiful beach 13km from Motueka. The beach has golden sand and crystal ...

... track to find somewhere to park and sleep. We found a car park type thing for people who then walk to the beach. It said no overnight stays but we decided to be rebellious. We watched really dark clouds behind a hill of trees for ages thinking it was a bush fire (the signs said high risk of fire that day!) but it wasn't! It was so windy the caravan was rocking everywhere and it wasn't a good night sleep as the wind kept waking us up and there was ...

... I had taken from the start of our travels was on the memory card in the camera!!!!!!

The journey to Nelson from Picton involved driving through the Marlborough Sounds which is a really beautiful area and gets the most sunshine out of everywhere in New Zealand. Once in Nelson most of the other travellers are dropped at the main hostel and then we are taken to where we are staying, Paradiso. We check-in after a free cup ...

... fields full of sheep with the sea beyond. We drove along a beautiful stretch of coast with golden bays and sheer cliffs. We were aiming for Awaroa, but the road had rivers crossing it. We crossed one ford, and David was very proud that our little car didn't cut out, but the next one was too deep. We changed the route and went to Totaranui, a pretty beach with smooth golden sand and driftwood and shells scattered everywhere. It was a long and winding drive ...

im trying to remember all the way back to arriving in brisbane a month ago and its pretty difficult so this maybe a very vague blog! we decided to fly around most of australia as it took soooooooo long to get anywhere by buses and flying was just as cheap! viki and i (still just the two of us) spent a couple of days in brisbane... not massively impressed by the city before heading to fraser island.... the island nearly every backpacker goes to! its the largest sand ...

... a small town called Havelock - the 'Greenshell Mussel Capital of the world'. Stopping for lunch at the Pelorus Reserve for either a swim or a walk - we opted for the walk as the water was far to cold to swim in. Finally we then traveled direct to Nelson, gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park. We were rather disappointed that we only had one night here as we wanted to explore the national park but due to the busyness of the buses we only had one night and therefore ...

... suffisament... Je retourne a mon fauteuil et la je me concentre pour essayer de m'endormir avant de sortir du port et de me retrouver dans la houle... mais la houle est vraiment vraiment forte et les vagues tres vite me reveille... aie aie aie.. une heure comme ca!! le bateau s'ecrase contre les vagues avec une telle force je me demande comment le bateau peut avancer et comment je vais garder mon petit dejeuner dans l'estomac!!.... Je monte le volume de mon iPod, ferme les ...

... round new zealand (and i think travelling in general) isnt for her! i dont think she likes having her stuff in a bag, having to share showers and not having white linen! I was trying to give her advice on what her options were and managed to slip in that i didnt want her to bring me down if she was going to be upset/depressed and bored whereever we went...i dont want that sort of baggage in tow! So after tonight we're going our seperate ways! She's ...

... morning, we were taken to Bark by along the Abel Tasman coast by water taxi. from there, we did a 5 mile hike to Torrent Bay (apparently the most gorgeous stretch of the track) and then kayak back to the small town of Marahau. the scenery was stunning! and we couldn't have imagined a more picturesque day! the waters were clear, the sky was blue without a cloud in sight and the waters were calm, perfect for kayaking... first the trail... it wound side to side ...

... it to the D day landings! Boys ... Once we got into the rain forest again we weren't so wet and very soon my lovely North Face trousers were dry again, though I really must investigate quick drying undies, especially after having sat in the puddle that was on the barge ... We didn't have far to walk this day and in fact it was over much quicker than we thought which was a shame. We did see some great rainforest though, this section was virtually unaffected by the planting ...