New Zealand - South Island - Nelson

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Hi everyone, well we left CLOSED up Greymouth !! and moved onto Nelson which took about 5 hours. We decided to get up at 6.00am and take the costal road along to Nelson. Fortunately, the local chap in the brewery told us to take this road and we wouldn't be sorry. So glad we did because we headed for the 'Pancake Rocks and Blowholes' and they were truly amazing. Very large rocks in all shapes and sizes coming out of the sea with the waves crashing all around and inside them. Even saw a rainbow over them and lighting from the Sunrise hitting different parts of it, really very lovely. Onward we went through lovely scenery, mountains, hills, farms and small towns, when we finally came to Nelson. This looked a bright sunny place, down by the Coast, liking this. Found our backpackers called Tasman Bay, really nice, shared facilities but laid out nicely. So from there we went to meet my sister and brother in law's friends called Ian and Janet who have been living in NZ for about 13 years. I had never met them, but they were home last year and said if we were around to look them up. So we arranged to go to their house which was about a half an hour drive out of Nelson. They have a lovely house in a town called Mapua in wine region and apple fields. We all introduced ourselves and they took us down to The Wharf which was pretty, people swimming, a band was playing, people generally hanging out and having a good time. We then went to their local pub as it was shutting down and it was the last day. Well, bonus there, as it was all free drink. Stu was in his element, he didn't have a pint of beer but a jug to himself and that wasn't the only one ! We then went back to Ian and Janet's house for a barbecue and stayed the night.

Today, Stu, Ian and myself went to Abel Tasman National Park, Janet had to work. We got a water taxi which took us along different beaches, starting at Marahau, then to Apple Tree Bay, Anchorage, Medlands Beach, Tonga Quarry and finally getting off at Awaroa where we walked for an hour but stopping at Awaroa Lodge which was a cosy restaurant/bar. We walked to a place called Onetahuti where the water taxi picked us at the end of the afternoon. The scenery and the beaches were lovely, not one bit of litter on them. There were people who kayaked in as you cannot drive to these beaches, they had brought their camping equipment and we saw people setting up their tents in the allocated places. Beautiful untouched forests, no sounds of cars just peace and quiet, just relaxing.

So back to Ian and Janet's for a curry, ended up staying again, they have been great hosts and very generous. We are off first thing in the morning back to the hostel to pick up our things and back on the road. The weather is getting hotter as we travel North, shorts out and the 'lilywhites' are back on show !! Need to get rid of the white glow again !!

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