NZ2020

My only regret so far on this trip is that I haven’t wanted to leave each place and there was more I wanted to see and do. Abel Tasman was no exception and would definitely be on my ‘must do’ recommended list. But it was time to move on again, towards the west coast via a 4 hour beautiful drive initially through fruit and hop farms with a halfway stop at Murchison, a small town with cafes, a pub and a service station. One of us had a delicious blueberry muffin and flat white coffee.. The road then followed the Buller river, very popular with adrenaline junkies - we just took a photo of NZ’s longest swing bridge. Westport is the ‘capital’ of the northern West Coast in a former mining area, a good place to stock up on supplies (aka Sauvignon) for our ‘off the grid’ two night stay at the Old Slaughterhouse lodge.  We called to say we were on our way and 30 minutes up the coast road, we were met at the car park by David the fabulous owner who built the lodge, including the water wheel ...

We had a fun start to the day on an aqua taxi up the coast to Bark Bay. The boats have a well organised routine - you get in the boat which is attached to a tractor and drive down to the sea. The boats park next to each other and each driver takes it in turns to be the tractor deliverer and then the boat driver - genius!  The boat trip did a bit of a tourist tour on the way, first to Split Apple Rock, an instagram must photo. Then a pootle past some fur seals - they are somewhere having a snooze in this photo.. Hubby and I then parted ways - he didn’t fancy the hike back, mainly due to the threat of a 47 metre long swing bridge. It was a good decision for an acrophobic.. I’m not a huge fan of the wobble either but the rest of the hike was fabulous.  I was very tempted to catch the water taxi back after 7 miles but I had a wrestle with my ‘inner chimp’ and plodded on. My feet, legs and neck aren’t exactly thrilled with life but I loved the hike! I had a packed lunch from the lo...

It was a beautiful, clear morning and this pony trek outside our room looked very inviting -  sadly I’m so allergic to horses that I can only admire from afar. We had to use our own two legs and headed off into Abel Tasman National Park and New Zealand’s most popular Great Walk.  There is a 5 day walk available with camping, water taxis and kayaking as options. We just simply walked today and it was a stunning 12km out and back walk to Apple Tree Bay. By the time we got back to Marahau, the tide was completely in and it looked so different - there is a huge 6 metre tidal difference. All that exertion required a yummy late lunch at ‘Hooked’ on a outdoor terrace with a gorgeous view. Obviously Sauvignon featured.. I had to have a little nap after all that exertion (and wine) and then had a happy evening planning the next stage of the trip and having a chat to this local resident. Apparently he is a Pukeko and according to a NZ bird identification website, is interesting for havi...

Lots of travelling today - a 3 1/2 hour drive to Auckland airport, drop off hire car,  a 1 1/2 hour flight to Nelson, pick up another hire car, a 1 hour drive to Abel Tasman via a supermarket for more essential Sauvignon.  It all went surprisingly smoothly, aided by some great NZ coffee. We are staying at Abel Tasman Lodge in Marahau, on the edge of the National Park where the Coast Track starts. The view from the room is to the mountains with lots of birds, friendly horses  and very noisy crickets. It’s a short walk to the beach and I had to go and have a paddle before dinner - I think I’m going to like it here..

We made the mistake of assuming we were safe from the mozzies here and woke up to a lumpy itch fest after a very pleasant evening on the balcony. For me, today was biking day, yippee! I booked a mountain bike and set off on my first New Zealand ‘Great Ride’, the Twin Coast Trail. It is a 87 km ride across the country from the Bay of Islands to Hokianga but I did a 91km out and back ride as the bike wouldn’t have fitted in our tiny car for a lift back! I saw 6 other cyclists on the entire ride but chatted to lots of beautiful cows and saw lots of birds, none of which I would be able to name. The trail runs along an old railway with some old suspension bridges. There were lots of gates to slow cyclists down - you have to get off to get through each one. This sign made me pedal faster.  It was extremely hot with very little shade but fortunately I found places to get water, including a friendly fire engine, as you do. I turned round at Kaikohe Pioneer Village, where a very friendly Ja...

Another day, another great bedroom view. I went for a run/plod to Waitangi Treaty Grounds, the birthplace of New Zealand, where a treaty was signed between Maori chiefs and Britain. It was early, so fortunately very quiet before the tourist hoardes arrived. There are two huge cruise ships parked in Paihia today so definitely a day to avoid the main tourist activities. We had to cook our own breakfast today, shock horror, but not a bad view for la chef. We took the 15 minute ferry across to Russell (named after hubby of course), as recommended by my running buddy Meriel. Hubby declined my offer of a hot walk up a big hill and parked himself at the Duke of Marlborough with a cold beer. This hotel holds NZ’s oldest pub licence (1827). Meanwhile at the top of a big hill... The flag post was the scene of major flag rage in 1845 and started the first of the New Zealand Wars. Russell is a very pretty, quaint historic town that apparently was once a debauched hell h...