Nelson and the Golden Bay

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Greetings from Takaka and the Golden Bay!

Chippy and I bid farewell to Caitlin in Picton and left the Bluebird ferry behind in a cloud of wheezing exhaust. She'll stay there for a few weeks working for accomodation while I explore the beautiful Golden Bay area on my own. My first stop was Nelson, and believe me, I had every intention of finding a job there...

Like a good Wendy Wellesley, I made up a resume filled with all my hospitality and customer service experience and went door to door in the little beachside town. Unfortunately, the only place hiring was a bakery and they didn't look too enthused with my lifeguarding abilities.

My first two nights I stayed at a vibrant hostel called the Palace. It's an old converted Victorian home with only 5 beds a dorm room, a backyard patio, loads of movies and free breakfast! Woohoo! I liked it there, but it was quite crowded so I moved on to the more secluded Beach Hostel, about 2 K's out of town.

This weathered beach side hostel was more my style. I stayed in my tent in their backyard, a few meters away from their BBQ set and their clothesline. It is my new belief that the best hostels do not own a TV. It forces the tenents to socialize or read or play guitar, all things that I managed to do during my next two days. I walked around the outskirts of town, discovered that Kiwi children have way better playgrounds than US kids do, watched lots of planes fly low overhead on the Nelson beach and chilled out on the beach.

One day I did a great little day hike in the Pelorous Bridge Scenic Reserve. For about 2 hours I hiked up these winding mountain forest paths, and prayed to God that there was a view worth the boredom I was experiencing. Luckily, there was a vast open view of the green mountain valley that I had drove through to get to Nelson a few days earlier. I was reminded of the opening credits of the Sound of Music (one of my all time favorites)! So inspired, I took a breath and let out a good size scream from the top of my lungs. I continued down the loop past two great waterfalls and a nice sized river.

Saturday, I got to my first New Zealand open air market. Nelson hold's theirs in a parking lot behind the New World grocery store, but still somehow it manages to be extremely charming. Sunday evening, the Beach Hostel hosted a BBQ. I got my first dose of red meat in a long while and while strumming my guitar, met my first fan. She was a kind and jolly Austrian woman who told me in her broken English, "I loves the home made music! You, very good at guitar."

I moved on from Nelson. I stopped last night in a tiny town called Moteuka. Mostly the people who stay there are using it as a base camp for their adventures into the Abel Tasman park. I decided against going this time, instead deciding to wait for Caitlin so we can kayak it together. (They don't hire out single kayaks to solo paddlers! Foiled!) Instead, I kept cruising along westwardly to a more remote area, past Abel Tasman.

Today (Tuesday) I drove up the much feared Takaka Hill in fog and rain, but as soon as I descended down into Golden Bay, the skies opened up and I arrived in the tiny village of Takaka. It is known as an artists' community complete with farms, galleries, craft shops and a few communes thrown into the mix.

I'm staying at the Shambhala hostel, which is reportedly a dreamy place set 16 K out of town. It boasts biodegradable toilets, solar powered showers, panoramic sea views and snorkelling! I'll let you know how it goes.

On the job front, I did manage to find some work down in a kayak rental place near Christchurch. The position is in exchange for room and board and free reign with the store merchandise on my days off 😊 I start Sunday so I'm getting my fun in now!

Cheers
Michelle

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Photos

Chippy waiting for the Ferry
Don't you just want to eat her up with a spoon?