Blogs from Nelson Region, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 34

Checked out of the hostel and had a wander around Nelson (including a visit to change our ferry booking to tomorrow - Tuesday). Headed for Havelock stopping only for a lovely walk along the banks of the Pelorus River and into the forest at Pelorus Bridge. Booked into the very quiet Havelock YHA (which is in the old wooden building in which the scientist Ernest Rutherford went to school). Bizarrely the school was rotated 90 degrees in the 1920's to give the pupils more sunshine at the head teacher’s request. We dined at the Mussel Pot and I indulged in the Havelock especially of green lipped mussels (sorry NZ but the French mussels may be smaller - but they are more tasty). ... read more

The weather was good on the coast but as soon as we headed on a scenic drive along the ...... valley the clouds moved in and the rain came down. After a rather dreary 100km along very straight roads through moderate landscape we stopped for coffee in St.Arnaud - happening upon a sodden Ducatti motorbike get -together. We headed back to the coast and the town of Nelson and booked into the Paradise backpackers. We had a room in a separate building sharing the kitchen and lounge with some young Germans, who were mostly absent so we had the place to ourselves. In the evening we had a couple of pints of Speights at a local bar and then enjoyed the luxury of an evening by ourselves slumped in front of the limited offerings on NZ ... read more

To get to the other side, of course. But three hours later? To travel only roughly 50 nautical miles? One wouldn’t think, but before we knew it, the first half of our day was gone. After picking up our new rental car (they don’t allow transport of rental cars from the north island to the south island for some reason), it was already 12:30, so made tracks for the Marlborough wine country. New Zealand in general is becoming known the world over as an up and coming wine growing area. However, the Marlborough area of New Zealand (the northern section of the south island) is known as having an ideal climate for Sauvignon Blanc. We tried several wineries (of which I thought I recognized one name: Isabel), and between all them, they managed to sell us ... read more

Dear Blogg, AAARRRGGGHH I have done it again!! Just wiped an hours worth of extremely witty and informative blog. Am such an idiot. Think my creative juices are running a little thin. This diary seemed like a good idea at the time and now it just feels like a bit of a chore. Well I know I will regret it if I stop now, so here we go again. So, on my second day in Nelson, I took a bus to the Abel Tasman National Park (which is on the north of the south island), and went for a cruise up the coast. It is hard to comprehend how stunning this country is. I keep being presented with more and more impressive scenery and beaches. In fact I have been thinking throughout my whole trip, that ... read more

Ian.. Indeed, it turned out just as we had feared. The deluge that accompanied us up to Franz-Joseph stayed with us while we were there. Rachael mumbled something about it never raining on glaciers or they’d melt, but I wasn’t willing to risk it as the last thing I fancied was spending a day up to my knees in water that had been cooled by glaciers. With our minds made up, we were just getting ready to leave when we bumped into Bob and Kath from the Milford track walk - it’s a small country when you’re all travelling in the same direction! They had been up on the glacier the day before and confirmed that it was wet up there, so I am glad we decided as we did. We set off to the accompaniment ... read more