A change of plan meant heading up north to Picton for the night in the Malborough Sounds. En route stopped at a place recommended by some local Kiwis called Ohao to check out a waterfall. After a short 10 minute "tramp" (hike) in the bush as you reach the waterfall it isnt the falling water that takes your breath away...its the rock pool (nursery) underneath which has about about 100 plus baby fur seal pups happily swimming diving and play fighting away. Save for one or two "guardians" further down the stream leading to the sea, they'd been left by their mothers who presumably were away fishing and were very iinquisitive and quite unabashed. It was a very special moment and one you wont forget in a life time.
The coastal road heading up to Picton was so very windy but breathtaking at the same time through some wonderful green hills and snow capped mountain ranges. The road isnt too dissimilar to the Great Ocean Road in Oz with some spectaculour views of the Pacific Ocean. The hilly countryside is beautiful and thankfully the rain stopped making travel easier. Set in the middle of the Marlborough Sounds (a miriad (sp) of bays, beaches, islands and peninsulas) Picton is a lovely unassuming little town from which you can get a ferry across to the north island (which can be seen on a clear day) bounded by the sea, some stunning mountain ranges and lush gigantic native ferns growing everywhere. Its a perfect place to go tramping in the bush for a few days along some wonderful golden sandy beaches including Governers Bay which was completely deserted.
Could have stayed a lot longer in Picton but had plans to head to Blenheim (reknowned for its wine making) for the night along the spectaculour scenic coastal route and via Havelock to visit a friends sister who very kindly offered up her much welcomed spare (and warm) bedroom for the night. Much of the day was spent merrily winetasting at some of the 60 local wineries (not all i hasten to add!!) and without obligation to buy (even better) before heading back in "rush hour" (there were about 6 cars around the round about ..when normally there would only be one or two!!) for a lovely home cooked meal.
After having a lazy morning, hit the road again toward Nelson which is the starting point of the Abel Tasman National Park along some vineyards and openfarm land which attracts the magnificient New Zealand Harrier (bird of prey)...actively introduced to the region by farmers to keep away the little birds from eating all the grapes!!. The best way to see the most scenic part of the NP is in a water taxi which cruises past golden beaches, clear water and seal colonies along the way. The highlight was a blue bottle dolphin swimming alongside us and scratching itself against the front of the boat. When the skipper put his foot down, the dolphin then moved to the rear and jumped in and out of the wake which was just awesome - if I wasnt a chatterbox i would have been speechless for days i'm sure.
At the northern end of the Abel Tasman National Park is Kakaka, a cute little starting point to tramp up to the pretty Wainui Falls, check out the (disappointing) Pu Pu springs (the largest in NZ and allegedly the clearest in the world but they werent thermal and not jumping at me quite frankly) and forage in the Jurassic Park/Tarzan style Grove Scenic Reserve.
Having been in NZ now for a while I am already taken aback by its beauty. In part, the north of the North Island very much reminds me of northern Blighty but obviously on a much grander scale.The weather whilst cold is just about bearable. That said i often have about 5 layers on. I also have to remind myself that camping is fun when i have to walk across the campsite to the ladies in the middle of the freezing night when i can see my own breath and it feels like its minus 10 outside!! I say bring back bedpans!!
Spent last night in a small little pub in Collingwood showing the All blacks match against the Kiwis. I couldnt help support the French (and it has nothing to do with Chabal!!) but sadly they lost. The atmosphere amongst the locals was all good humoured and fun.
Now heading along the west coast and arrived late tonight in Westport. Should be around here for a few days.
