We took advantage of the nice weather (and the lack of scheduled activities) to take a drive up to Abel Tasman National Park. This park is north of Nelson, about a 2 hour drive from Okaramio. The weather was cloudy with spits of rain into Nelson, then the clouds parted and the sun was shining. We stopped in Nelson to replenish our supply of coffee beans at the Sublime coffee roaster. The drive out of Nelson, the small communities, and the winding, narrow roads all brought back vivid memories of Northland. The Park itself is set up for hiking, sea kayaking, and other outdoor activities. You really can't drive to portions of the park and view the landscape. From the Visitor Kiosk (they don't have a manned center), we walked across bridges that forded the sand flats (it was becoming low tide; at high tide, we would have been crossing over water). On the other side, we walked along the trail for another 500 m or so or Porter's Beach before making the return trip. We were glad that we remembered to bring (and use!) the insect repellent on this trip.
