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28/4 - on the way from picton to nelson we stopped at a vineyard for a wine tasting! We got to taste a few wines (and tried to sneakily get some re-fills), not that any of us could afford to buy them, and then had lunch outside this nice little cafe with amazing views of the vineyard with the mountains behind it! We arrived in Nelson in the afternoon, got settled in to our hostel, which was at the back of pub, then had a free beer tasting. which was interesting, but a bit wierd drinking shots of beer!
29/4 - Had a bit of a free day today, just went for a look around the town, try and figure out where things are and get supplies and stuff. In the afternoon i walked up to the centre of New Zealand. Which is exactly what it sounds like, its meant to be the exact centre of new zealand!it was a nice little walk and a good photo opportunity, there were nice views over nelson from it, unfortunately it was a bit too cloudy to see the sunset tho :(
30/4 - today i attempted to do a few walks in the hills surrounding Nelson as the weather was a bit better for it. unfortunatley the walk I was going to do was closed off because they were cutting down trees, and i didnt have enough time for the other walks, so i just sat out on the grass about half way up the hill and had a bit of a picnic. I then had to get suplies that night for my two day camping trip in the abel tasman national park that i was starting the following day!
1/5 - We left quite early to head for the national park. When we got there we got kitted out with our kayaking gear, were told how not drown and other stuff like that, then headed off to the sea! We kayaked along the coast of the national park passing numerous unspoiled tropical beaches, and stunning cliffs topped with luscious green forest! After about an hour of kayaking we stopped on one of the beaches for morning tea, got a quick cuppa' and some cookies then headed back out in the kayaks. After another hour or so we stopped on another beach for our lunch, this was about an hour stop where our guide made us soup and cakes. We chilled for a bit before heading off on our last bit of kayaking. On the way we stopped at this rocky formation just off the coast that is home to a seal colony, we watched the seals for a bit then headed off to a beach called bark bay where we were spending the night. They had transported our camping equipment to the beach for us, so we just had to pick it up and set up our tents on the camping ground just off of the beach. After the worst attempt at putting up two tents I have ever seen, we settled with two rather mishapen tents. Luckily a friendly german traveller pointed out to us that the poles were all the wrong size and put up the tents for us :P We then watched the sunset on the beach before gathering around the fire (it was freezing when the sun went down!!). We then cooked ourselves some dinner on the camping stoves in pitch darkness before retreating to the nearby hut to play some cards, which wasnt easy because there was no electricity! We then headed back to our tents for a very cold nights sleep!
2/5 - We arose early this morn to watch the sunrise on the beach before packing away our tents to head off on our 5 hour trek! The walk was fairly easy, not to steep in any areas and the weather was really good for it! the walk took us furhter along the coast, again passing a number of stunning beaches, all practically deserted! At times we had to wade across small inlets of water, that could only be crossed at certain times depending on the tide. After walking for about 5 hours we made it to our destination, a beach at the other end of the national park to where we started. It was here that we were pciked up by a water taxi to make the journey back to the start. Just as the taxi was arriving a dolphin appeared no more than 20m from shore, which then followed the boat along jumping through its wake, which was cool :) The taxi took us back via the seal colony again to give us a closer look, and on the way back we also spotted about 20 penguins in the water, they were blue penguins I think, there meant to be the smallest species of penguin in the world. After about 40 mins on the taxi we made it back to the start to get the bus, still in one piece (me, not the bus) just a little tired and covered in sandfly bites!!
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