[Nelson, New Zealand] From our campsite we could see the water taxi’s loading up. It’s funny to watch. They have a boat on a trailer hooked up to a tractor. Once full of people they drive the whole lot down the main road and out onto the beach. The tide runs a long way out so at low tide they have to go a lot further. Getting the guys out of the water is a similar process. The tractor and trailer park in deep enough water and the boats just drive on.

The taxis are running people out to trail heads or secluded beaches in the Abel Tasman national park, we decided to walk out along the coastal trail to see what all the fuss is about while many others opted for a sea kayak – another popular way of exploring the park. The trail is stunning and winds it’s way along bluffs passing into rocky coves and sandy beaches surrounded by pristine dense forest and turquoise oceans. We will have to come back with some gear and do the 4 day hike one day (if we can ever get a slot – these popular trails and huts fill up years in advance). We turned back after walking for just over an hour and headed back passing a lot of day walkers and hikers (this is a busy part of the trail).

Heading south we stopped for a few minutes at Kaiteriteri beach. The campsite here is so popular that they allocate sites with an online lottery system. The beach is beautiful and with the now very hot and sunny weather it looked like a scene straight out of Thailand… Until we put a toe in the water 🙂 It was a short drive to the next largish town, Motueka, where we stocked up on supplies for the last time. V overheard some Afrikaans in the store so I guess we aren’t the only visitors.

We cruised on down through the industrial looking Richmond and then finally into Nelson itself. We spent a couple hours wandering around Nelson city centre which does a reasonable job of trying to look very old and English. V had a little shopping to do and we wanted to check out the gear and bike shops (Nelson is somewhat of an outdoor adventure sport hub). We thoroughly enjoyed town. Lots of little cafes and a pleasant ‘street’ / ‘cafe’ vibe. This place seems a lot like Cape Town with better weather (today). After working up a bit of a sweat walking around we located the award winning ‘Penguino’ ice cream shop. V had their signature Boisenberry and I tried their Chili Chocolate from the odd selection including cucumber and mango lassi. It was excellent but a chili burning mouth with ice cream was an odd experience.

From town we headed back along the water front to the campsite. The huge beach front was packed (more than 4, less than 100) with people on mountain bikes and kite-boards or just out for a stroll with their dogs. Seems like a wonderful spot. We got a campsite right on the beach front in a massive park that is almost empty. Another good meal but this time we treated ourselves to a bottle of a local merlot. The first wine we’ve had in months went down wonderfully and possibly a little too quickly 🙂

[Pictures: Abel Tasman NP coastline. Kaiteriteri beach. Penguino yummy and our campsite at Tahuna beach]

– Posted from my iPhone via WiFi