Nelson

09/02/12-11/02/12

I had a full day in Nelson so I first headed up one of the local hills to get a view of the city and the coast. After I climbed another hill to go to the centre of New Zealand, maybe not quite the centre of the country but the place where all surveys take their reference from. In the afternoon I ventured along the bike path that runs alongside the coast line before returning through a Japanese garden to round off my day.

The next day I jump on a local shuttle bus to go and do a one day walk on one of New Zealand’s great walks that runs through Abel Tasman national park. I walked from the start of the track to the first hut at Anchorage bay before returning, passing through native bush as well as several golden (or to the locals rust) coloured beaches. This had to be one of the busiest walks I had been on with people passing by in both directions throughout the day. The track is very assessable with you having the option to jump on water taxis and kayaks to start and jump off where you want.

On my last full day on the south island, I returned to Nelson in preparation for my journey across the Cook Straights the next day. This time I had booked a hostel near the port area of Nelson to get a different perspective of the town. While there I took a walk along by the beach which follows the coastline, a relaxing day to round off my time in the beautiful south.