Blogs from Marahau, Abel Tasman National Park, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 11

After the Queen Charlotte track I travelled to Nelson. Nelson is a really cool place. It has a nice relaxed feel about it yet it also looks like it can be quite an active place too. In Nelson I met up with my friend Richard from home to start travelling with him. He'd been in Te Anau, right at the bottom of the South Island where he'd been working as a Tour Guide in the Glow Worm caves for 6 months, a pretty cool job but he was getting tired of it i think. Richard owned a car so it was great for me as I miss my car so much from home I was allowed to drive - we agreed we can take turns. Afte a few nights in Nelson we went to Marahau to ... read more

This place was great! The only downside was the bad weather on the first day. WHen it rains in NZ it fucking doesn't stop! My Austrian pal Matteas and I hired a kayak and went from Marahau to Bark Bay in about 5 hours. We had time to explore the little coves and although it was raining the mountaind attracted fog and gave the whole place a "Lost World" effect. We camped up for the night despite trying to get into one of the huts. No room and we tried to sneak in but the buggers caught us and escorted us to our tent in the rain. Quite a hard night when its pissing down and blowing a gale. The kayak got picked up by water taxi and than we had a 8 hr trek back ... read more

After Wellington, our time in the North Island was up. we got the ferry over to Picton and the weather was good so it only took three hours. We headed straight from the ferry terminal to a winery where we tried three whites, some spirits, dressings and oils so a good visit!! As the weather was great, our driver took us to a river so we could have a swim and a jump off the surrounding rocks. it was so good to feel the sun again but with burn time being 12 minutes, we lathered the factor 30 on (a bit of a strange experience on the 9th January!) After this, we headed straight to Nelson where we stayed in a converted hotel with a really nice courtyard. We were chuffed to be staying 3 nights ... read more

After Wellington, our time in the North Island was up. we got the ferry over to Picton and the weather was good so it only took three hours. We headed straight from the ferry terminal to a winery where we tried three whites, some spirits, dressings and oils so a good visit!! As the weather was great, our driver took us to a river so we could have a swim and a jump off the surrounding rocks. it was so good to feel the sun again but with burn time being 12 minutes, we lathered the factor 30 on (a bit of a strange experience on the 9th January!) After this, we headed straight to Nelson where we stayed in a converted hotel with a really nice courtyard. We were chuffed to be staying 3 nights ... read more

Soon after leaving Wellington, I arrived in a little town called Nelson. Nelson is famous for having the best weather in all of New Zealand, mainly the most number of sunny days. It was a lovely little town, nestled right in the middle of a long mountain range, which somehow made the town feel very cosy. It actually reminded me a little of Banff, with smaller mountains though. From Nelson there are a wide array of outdoor activities available surrounding the town, mainly in the nearby Abel Tasman National Park. New Zealand has chosen 9 different tracks and classified them as their country’s nine great walks. One of these walks is called the Able Tasman Coastal Track which is 51 kms long and they say takes an average of 3 to 5 days to complete. One ... read more