Blogs from Nelson Region, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania
April 1st 2012
Sat 31 Mar ----------- Sitting outside our room on a lovely balcony in the warm sunshine, overlooking a nice river with a glass of wine, while we write this (are you sick yet?). We are in Nelson now, yes, named after Lord Nelson. Lots of street names such as Trafalgar St, Hardy St, Nile St, Victory Square etc. It's a lovely town. We just love NZ. We can't begin to explain how beautiful the scenery in here on the South Island. We thought that North Island was really prtetty but this place is absolutely stunning. We drove for 30 mins off the beaten track on the way to Nelson to a place called Okiwi Bay. Was well worth it cos it was lovely (although somewhat inundated with little sand flies). It also helps that the sun ... read more
March 16th 2012
Friday morning we were up at 6 to get to the ferry for the South Island such an amazing crossing, just like a mill pond. As we came into Picton the ferry went through Queen Charlotte Sound which we so beautiful. Drove up to be near the Abel Tasman Park and found a A frame cabin close to the waterfront. Jim is thrilled as part of the site is nudist!! we've just enjoyed a tapas style supper on the deck with some sparrows... read more
Hobart, Melbourne, Wellington, Nelson
Published: March 15th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Nelson Region » Motueka
March 15th 2012
So, back to New Zealand. Up at 4.00am, to the airport, Virgin Airways to Melbourne then Air New Zealand home with long stops in Melbourne and Wellington. Sigh........ How extremely boring it is waiting for flight links, but needs must. I'ts nice to go on holiday and visit friends and see new places but it's also good to get back home again. A&M are an inspiration on travelling in young/old age especially when wanting to add a bit of adventure to it. We thoroughly talked through biking in Europe and now hae that to look forward to planning for 2013.... read more
South Island West Coast... Sounds, Jetboats, Cotter's, Glaciers and Kayaks!
Published: February 22nd 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Nelson Region » Nelson
February 21st 2012
Hi Guys! We left Invercargill after our mamouth blog writing session and travelled to Te Anau before night fall. The next day we were up early as we had booked a trip to Milford Sound. It was raining so we weren't hopeful for beautiful views! Ferg, our bus driver, picked us up from our campsite and drove us about 2hrs to Milford. On the way we stopped to look at different points of interest. Our favourite spot was called 'The Chasm', where the river rushes down over the mountain and creates lots of weird and wonderful shapes in the rocks. The last part of our journey took us through a tunnel in the mountain which connected us to Milford. It was hard to believe that it was dug out by hand and before it was made, ... read more
New Zealand / Australia Trip
Published: February 20th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Nelson Region » Nelson
February 18th 2012
2/18/12 Started the day by going to the outdoor food and craft market. The highlight of the morning was a visit to the Hans Jenson Jewelry Store. Hans Jenson designed the Ring used in the movie Lord of he Rings. We also visited WOW, World Of Wearable Art & Classic Car Museum. This museum displayed garments designed by artists from NZ and from other countries around the globe. They were futuristic in design and materials. In addition to the Wearable Art Exhibit, the Museum included a classic car collection. Leaving the Museum we began driving south toward the West Coast city of Westport. The road began to wind and twist as we entered higher elevations. Along the way we stopped at Spooner’s Range Lookout where we had a good view of the surrounding mountains. Further ... read more
Nelson meets Dave Lee Travis
Published: February 18th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Nelson Region » Nelson
February 12th 2012
Awoke this morning in Kaikoura, sorry that I'm here so briefly? Why? Because the view out my window is gorgeous. So beautiful that I thought I'd share it with my Mum and Dad on Skype, however I gave up when Mum thought she'd seen skyscrapers in the background. Skyscrapers. At a little quaint seaside town, less than 2 hours north of earthquake-devastated Christchurch. Dad just shook his head in disbelief...I just decided to get on the road and drive... I did a quick drive-by the town centre, which looked gorgeous. It's a shame because Kaikoura is famous for whale watching, yet on my whistle-stop tour, I have only enough time to grab some sushi and a coffee. About 40 mins north of Kaikoura was a place called Ohau Point, where you could see hundreds and hundreds ... read more
Neuseeland - Nelson/Motueka/Collingwood
Published: February 10th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Nelson Region
January 30th 2012
30.01.2012 In Nelson angekommen haben wir die Stadt angeschaut, sind über Motueka und Collingwood zum Farewell Spit. Wir fuhren zurück nach Takaka, wo wir übernachteten. Am nächsten Tag fuhren wir mit einem kleinen Umweg über die deutsche Ortsgründung Neudorf zurück nach Nelson, wo wir dann sogleich unsere Hütten und das Wassertaxi für den Abel Tasman Coast Track buchten, welchen wir dann am nächsten Morgen begonnen haben.... read more
As One Chapter Ends, Another One Begins
Published: January 30th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Nelson Region » Nelson
January 30th 2012
Its true. We’ve almost been here for a year. I really cannot believe it, a year of living out of our van and oh how I’ll miss Van-Demon. We met the father of the women who sold us our van and he was mentioning that Van-Demon was an early explorer of New Zealand and the reason they named the van after him, our van is a true exploring machine. We’ve spent some time doing all kinds of things in these past months. Wwoofing on sheep farms, tramping, more tramping, visiting with family, sea kayaking and more wwoofing. My sister has been travelling with us for the past two months and she is buying our van from us when we leave. One of the most interesting wwoof’s we’ve done thus far was last week. We wwoofed at ... read more
A Tale of Two Cities Part 2: Mother Nature names her price
Published: February 5th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Nelson Region » Nelson
January 23rd 2012
Two nights safely spent in Christchurch, three nights, four...still I haven't felt a single quake or aftershock. I'm not sure if I'm more relieved or disappointed by this. Obviously I don't want to be in a devastating earthquake anymore than I wish such terrifying aftershocks and damage on the already frayed nerves of Cantabrians. But a small part of me would like to feel the ground move beneath my feet - just enough to get the adrenalin pumping like on a big rollercoaster ride, not enough for the hostel I'm in to fall down on my head. Once again I found myself with a few hours in Christchurch and ended up walking around the no-go zone that is the city centre. This time the sunshine was out and so were the tourists. Out of such devastation ... read more
Craig, Mum and Dad in NZ, 2011-2012
Published: January 7th 2012Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Nelson Region
January 7th 2012
January 6, 2012 by Craig Hello to all and happy new year ! Wow, 2012 already. We are currently in the charming city of Nelson, in the North of the NZ South Island. Nelson is known for its sunny climate, attractive wooden houses and as the jumping off point for nearby Abel Tasman National Park. We arrived in Nelson having driven up the length of the West coast, a ruggedly beautiful part of NZ where temperate rainforest meets the beach meets glaciers - like on other place in NZ. We finally encountered some rain which put us off seeing Fox Glacier that arvo, but the next day was good and we did the walk to Franz Josef Glacier instead : a massive river of ice extending down the valley and flanked by lush forest. However, you ... read more
