Nelson & Abel Tasman National Park
By Kevin
01.26.2009
76 °F
To quote one of our favorite Kiwi sayings: “Sweet as!!” (American translation: It’s all good!!) We spent three nights in the town of Nelson, which was easily our favorite spot on the trip so far. Nelson and its surrounding area was full of “bests” for us: Best national park (Abel Tasman National Park might be the most scenic area we’ve ever seen); Best town (Nelson is a picturesque town with great outdoor cafes and a nearby beach); Best weather (nothing but cloudless, high 70s days); and Best hostel (even Amy was very happy with our accommodation here!). Definitely tough to beat. Sweet as!
On Saturday, we did a hiking/kayaking tour of Abel Tasman National Park, joined by three other travelers from our bus (all from Ireland). We took a water taxi into the Park and were dropped off at Torrent Bay, from where we hiked to a spot called Watering Cove about two hours or so away. The Park is outrageously pretty, with the clearest, most turquoise water we have ever seen. (Our pictures don’t do it justice.) We made it to the beach at Watering Cove about mid-day, where we stopped for lunch and a short swim.
At Watering Cove, the five of us met up with our guide and set out on kayaks for several hours. We paddled around tiny islands, stopped and swam at isolated beaches, and took in the jaw-dropping surroundings. Near the end of the day, the guide has us put our kayaks side-by-side and we attached a small sail to the front (held up at the back by our oars pointed at the sky)….. and we then used the wind to sail us back without paddling. Very cool.
On our second day, we had planned on doing a winery tour of various wineries in the Marlborough region….. but we felt lazy and spent the day at the beach instead. (Yup, those are the tough decisions we face each day!)
After Nelson, we are heading down the west coast of the South Island to Greymouth... which, according to Lonely Planet, is one of the top ten drives in the world. We'll let you know!
FYI, on a different note, we’ve learned that many of you don’t realize that you can “subscribe” to our blog---which means that you will be sent an email whenever we post a new entry. Just click “Subscribe” on the right side of this web page and then enter your email address.
Cheers!
Posted by amyandkev 02:14 Archived in New Zealand
We are so glad that you loved Nelson - one of our favorite cities. This was another great entry in your blog - we are sure enjoying it all. Our favorite quote today was when you decided to go to the beach and not the wineries and said "Yup, those are the tough decisions we face each day!" Life is certainly pretty good these days for Kevin and Amy!! I know that Kevin has been waiting to say that - it sure beats working, doesn't it? Well, we are extremely jealous of you two - especially because you are sitting on the beach and today it is currently 18 degrees here. By the way - love the picture of your feet on the beach!! Sweet As!
Keep Enjoying.
Love, M & D
by Kev'sMandD