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Published: December 6th 2012
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After we left the west coast we headed north towards the Abel Tasman National Park. The road took us inland along the Buller River and the drive was again another spectacular one, I have lost count the amount of times I have said 'oh wow' whilst in NZ. The journey north also had a funny and unexpected twist as we came to the aid of two German travellers who had stupidly run out of petrol. The funniest thing was they had picked up two hitchhikers to help pay for petrol and then run out on route! ha ha. We gave the girl a lift to the next fuel stop and as she said she was going to hitch back and it was getting dark we did the right thing and drove her back to her friends. It didn't cost us much and if it was the other way round we would hope fellow explorers would do the same.
After sleeping in a free rest area the following morning it was lovely and sunny as we continued our journey to the north coast through picturesque valleys filled with vineyards and wild flowers. We booked into a nice little campsite on the
long sweeping golden bay and relaxed that day, reading, sunbathing and enjoying a nice cold glass of the local produce! The next day we headed into the national park and spent some time exploring the hidden bays, walking and just enjoying the scenery in NZ's smallest national park.
After leaving Abel Tasman we continued east to Nelson and found a cheap campsite for the unbelievable price of 3 quid each! We spent the afternoon exploring the town centre, stopped for a quick rest to sample a local craft beer and then finished the evening off with fish and chips by the waterfront! A most enjoyable day if I must say so myself.
As that day was so good, the next day we pretty much did the same thing (not the fish and chips, we can't afford them too often ) . We did a bit of shopping, (the highlight for me being an amazing antique shop, the highlight for Jane was being done up by the make up girls in Lush!) then found a coffee shop that had wi-fi so we could catch up doing our traveller admin (the blog) and plan the next and final part of our
trip to Fiji.
Once we pulled ourselves away from the comforts of Nelson we headed towards the Malborough Sounds and in particular the Queen Charlotte Track. On route we stopped off to do a nice river walk at Pelorous Bridge (so beautiful it even made into Peter Jackson's The Hobbit movie). We walked along the river and saw a couple of nice waterfalls, one of which flowed into a nice deep pool so I quickly stripped off and went for a swim. What a stupid idea that was, it was freezing cold and I jumped out as quickly as I jumped in. Also, as we had no towel I had to sit their freezing until I eventually got dry whilst Jane laughed and mocked me.
After finishing the walk and eventually getting dry we continued on to the Malborough Sounds. The scenery was again fantastic and we thought it was even more stunning than Abel Tasman. We had planned to do a long walk on the Queen Charlotte Track, but as the next day was cold, rainy, and very windy we reluctantly decided to move on towards the Malborough wineries.
We explored the main town of Blenheim and planned our
wine tasting trip, before heading off to another free beach campsite at Robin Hoods Bay.
We were up early the next day for an amazing sunrise and so we could head off to the small town of Renwick which is in the heart of all the vineyard action. We booked into a lovely little family run backpacker place called Watsons Way that also let campervans park in their driveway and use the facilities. Another perk of the place was they also hired out bikes at a cheap rate, so after a quick shower we were helmeted up, given a map and ready to taste some wine. It was a lovely NZ summers day as we slowly made our way through the vineyards sampling some world famous wines and bubbles. We enjoyed Jane's favourite Cloudy Bay , as well a few of the classics such as Montana , Hunters and Villa Maria just to name a few.
On our last day on the South Island we recovered from the wine in the sanctuary of the Blenheim library and used the free Internet. That evening we free camped near the ferry town of Picton so we could be up early
to catch the ferry to Wellington.
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Anne
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New Career
Time to join a circus when you get home!