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January 5th 2009

Published: January 8th 2009

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Dan n Nic

Dan with his Birthday pressie and cake!

Abel Tasman and Marlborough Sounds.

So, the beginning of a new year, what will it bring??!!! Well, as usual, it brings Dan's Birthday for a start! What to do when on a tight budget?....No fancy presents here I'm afraid.....a trip to the $2 store was called for! I'm sure he was thrilled with his giant foam hand, that no doubt will be featuring in quite a few shots from now on! I couldn't not get him cake either, and I think I did pretty well to get candles too - so all in all he was quite spoiled this year!!

From Kaikoura we drove up the East coast, through Nelson across to the Abel Tasman Nation Park with even more stunning scenery and a giant hole - the biggest cave in the Southern Hemisphere apparently, and mighty impressive it was too...so big it doesn't fit into a photograph! The surrounding forest was also used in part of the Lord of The Rings trilogy, so it was obligatory to make the most of the warrior photo opportunity!

Tight on time (with our ferry over to the North Island looming) we rushed back along the coast to Marlborough Sounds where

Abel Tasman

we found yet another beautiful campsite, right on the beach! However, this was no ordinary beach and I was ecstatic to find that just around the rocky cove was a hotbed for the local speciality of Greenshell Mussels - GIANT ones at that! Well, with such a delicacy offered to me on a plate (so to speak!) it'd be rude not to make the most of it! - They were gorgeous, even better knowing we'd picked them ourselves and weren't paying a fortune for them in a fancy restaurant!

Dan - She even had me in there, shorts rolled up, flip flops on, leatherman in hand!!. Back to the birthday pressie thing, believe it or not I was really happy with my 'Giant foam hand' it was a really nice thought, apparently it was either that or a Frankenstein mask!!!.

Very sad to leave the South Island not only is it very beautiful, it also means we will be zooming through the North Island en route to South America for our last leg !!! don't get me wrong we're looking forward to it, but it's just New Zealand has something about it that makes you want to stay