Blogs from Nelson Region, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 36

I spent a few nights in Christchurch arranging for a rental car and getting things in order - shipped a few Sout Pole Pint glasses home and caught up on some good food. My second night at the Devon Hotel was spent on the Inn Keeper's floor. Sandy didnt have any available room for Saturday night but she let me crash anyway. My friends from SFO, Sam and Jenny, got into Christchurch on Sunday and were shocked to see me there waiting for them. We didnt think we were going to catch each other but my early flight out of McMurdo put me in Christchurch at just the right time. The three of us roamed around mostly eating and drinking our way through town and taking naps in between. We went to the Volcano in Lyttleton ... read more

Hello all, So here we are, the South Island of Beautiful New Zealand...but more on that later, i first have to fill you all in on my day in Nelson. So after i took care of all the blog updating and picture uploading etc, i entered the stream of locals and tourists that make their way through Wellington. As far as NZ city goes, Wellington is tops,by far better than Auckland. It has more character and is so easy to walk everywhere!! Big Bonus!! So i explored on foot... first making my way through Cuba Street,where the shops are plentiful, the people colorful, and the food very eclectic and ethnic. Then it was on to visit the great TePapaMuseum, which is the highlight and must see in Wellington, and although it was an amazing day,i have ... read more

Today it occurred to me that New-Zealand is the theme park of hiking. Two hikers meet, and something like the following conversation takes place- "have you done the x track yet?" "no, I went to do y so I didn't had time yet", "well, you should, it's really great!". It's sounds just like two kids in Disneyland comparing rides. Some tracks are easier, some harder, some very popular so there's a line (great walks), and they are all around the islands. Backpackers are just going all around, sleeping in designed hostels, going on the hikes and comparing them. There are tracks for every taste and preference, with forests, mountains, water or even glaciers, and they are all very close to each other. And because no theme operates without management, here they have DOC, New-Zealand Department Of ... read more

I spent my days off last week in Nelson Lakes National Park (about an hours drive from Nelson and three from Takaka where I am living). It was a very successful trip minus the fiasco of getting there which I will leave out for the sake of certain potential readers. The park is situated next to the little town of St Arnaud (which is really just a hostel, a lodge, a general store and the visitor center). The hostel I stayed in had a ski chalet feel and I had some worth while conversations with other travelers both nights I was there. The one that stands out in my mind was with a woman from Switzerland who owned a tattoo and piercing shop. She was married but had been traveling for three months and had only ... read more

The next morning was ferry time. We took a 3 1/2 hour ferry from the North to South Island. That was a good sleep. We got into Picton and ran around for a while. There was an amazing park there that was fun to walk through. Then it was back to the vans for 2 hours more of driving... The drive was awesome; the coast of the North Island is the most mountainous I've seen so far; we drove crazy curvey roads down the sides of tree-covered mountains into valleys that went on forever. I loved it. We eventually made it to Nelson, which is my favorite place so far. It's an different atmosphere here; it's really fun, but also really relaxed; it's a bit of a boho town I think. The shops are amazing and ... read more