Harris Hill Cottages Nelson

... Kaiteriteri (Ki-terry-terry) up to Tonga Quarry and then a 4km hike to Medlands Beach before cruising back to Kaiteriteri.

Kaiteriteri provided lovely beach and ocean views – as did the cruise itself with the backdrop of the forest of the Abel Tasman National Park.

The hike was quite easy (not like the one I did on Waiheke Island) and I did it in about an hour. On the way, I took some ‘scenic ...

... game. I took one look at the stream and reckoned I could get across without the water going over the ankle so I went for it. The rest of the group were all ready to laugh at my wet feet but HA – waterproof boots matey – and they work!

Worst footwear related incident. At the more major crossing in Awaroa I called for the Merrills I bought in Chichester. These are water sport shoes – designed to get wet and dry quickly. They were good at ...

We were given a free breakfast and then we went into town to have a look around Nelson market, which we had been told was quite interesting. It was full of strange cooking ingredients that it would have been great to buy if we had a kitchen, but impractical for us to carry around New Zealand. There were also some stalls selling crafts, jewellery and knitted jumpers.

After this we went to the World of Wearable art (W.O.W.!). This ...

... 15 minutes to pack my backpack, reserve a spot in the Park's sleeping huts and check I had the proper provisions if I wanted to make the hike to the first hut before sundown. While it was a mad dash to prep for the 3-day and 2-night "Coastal Hike", I managed to gear up and make the 30-minute drive to the trail head just in time.

My plan was to traverse all but the last leg of the Coastal Hike, as I would not be able to make it to ...

... still completely enjoyable. With us were the conductor and his two daughters, and the mother and son for a total of 4 kayaks. The first notable event was that Allison immediately fell out of the kayak within moments of getting started. Now, Jessica readily admits that she was deficit in her assigned duties to hold the kayak stable. None the less, it was pretty funny and Allison exclaimed..."well, got that ...

... hygget, og vi fik gode råd om alt fra toilettømning til gode campsites på Sydøen. Det var en speciel (læs: fed) oplevelse at mødes med vores rigtig gode venner helt omme på den anden side af jorden. Strandene ved Abel Tasman er meget smukke med gyldent sand og turkisblåt vand. Vi fik trekket - ja, altså måske kan man ikke kalde det ...

... this sitting harness and am looking forward to it. The ride is pretty lame and i even take my hands off the harness and try to swing the seats faster, but hey it was worth doing. I hope that the bungy is going to be this non-scary, but i am sure it is going to terrify me! We arrive into Nelson and find ourselves at the Nelson YHA for the night, why we try to decide what to do.

... a glacier...or wait until Patagonia in S. America, which would be a lot cheaper). After researching a bit between Fox Glacier, Franz Josef Glacier or Patagonia we still had no idea what to do. So we hopped in our very empty gas tanked car and drove to the car park of Fox Glacier and did a little walk. We thought, we have nothing else to do today and the weather was great, so ...

04 December Managed to get on the road by 0645 and were soon in the queue for the Picton ferry, armed with coffee and a newspaper. Loaded up on time but then were nearly an hour late in leaving as they were having problems with the bow doors - bit of a worry with the history in Europe! It was still very windy but from the north so the seas were not too big and it was a calm crossing. Took Queen Charlotte Drive out to Anakiwa which was an extremely windy and ...

... the critters; and at 20 bucks for a starter of them I can understand why! Emmet's came out in an omelette and I have to say they were pretty tasteless. Maybe they would be better deep fried?! Anyway, you live and learn. He then had some sinfully good NZ lamb (almost as good as the Kerry variety) and I had Grouper. (Yes yes I know, not sustainable, I'm going straight to eco-hell...) All washed down with some delicious NZ Ale / Marlborough red wine ...