Nelson
The Sunshine Capital
07.12.2009 - 08.12.2009
25 °C
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The Big Trip
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Yesterday we were up early (again!) to catch the ferry across from the North to the South Island. The hostel we were staying at in Wellington had FREE BAGELS on Monday mornings so we more than made the most of that, taking some for lunch as well. They were freshly baked from the local bakers and yummy! The ferry ride was 3 hours and although it was just supposed to be a journey from one place to another it turned into a experience in its own right. The scenery was stunning sailing through the Malborough sounds, lots of lush green islands and we even saw dolphins (from a distance). After arriving in the South Island our first stop was Nelson, which we'd been told had the most sunshine hours in all of NZ so after all the rain in the last few days we had high hopes. We weren't disappointed. Since we've arrived here its been sunny sunny sunny! We checked in to our hostel which is really nice, more like a friendly B&B. The dorm we're in has three triple bunks, but luckily they dont use the top ones as they're terrifyingly high! We didnt do much once we arrived apart from take a stroll in the park which the hostel overlooks, we came across this really wierd bird which we've since found out is called a Tui, it makes a noise unlike anything in England!
Today we had another unbelievable day considering we've only been here just over a week! We went to Abel Tasman National Park which is basically a coastline of jungle, white sandy beaches amd turquoise sea. We chose to do a 8km walk through the lush vegetation then a 3 hour Kayak back to the start. The place was strangely quiet and not really touristy at all considering how picturesque it is. As part of our day trip we had a picnic on a secluded spot of beach under a tree before heading off in our kayaks with our local guide. We weren't lucky enough to spot any dolphins or penguins but we saw lots of cormorands, a few gannets and a couple of oyster catchers. We saw a gannet dive bomb to catch a fish right in front of us!
Nelson is a fantastic place and we'll be sad to leave, but its off to Greymouth tomorrow for a local brewery tour.
P.S Thanks for all your messages. We miss you all. Ava, the food is a lot like in England (they've even got Heinz Baked Beans) but more upside down and we didnt go in the hot springs because they were boiling hot and would have roasted us alive!
Lots of Love. Alex and Danielle. X x x x
Posted by alexdani 07.12.2009 23:40 Archived in New Zealand Tagged backpacking
HELLO ALEX!youseem to have become obsessed with bird life.good for you.glad there are heinz baked beans-it will be just like home.dont have too many tasters at the brewery.ps are you sure those bagels were free?
08.12.2009 by Grace