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Nelson and Abel Tasman National Park
Two weeks ago Dave and Mike took off for the northern part of the South Island. It was Mike's last week with us, he had finished the first draft of his master's thesis, and he wanted to see some more of New Zealand. They drove 10 hours north in one day. At about three quarters of the way, they stopped to look at the beach at Kaikoura. There are lots and lots of seals in the next picture.
They spent the night in Nelson, a fairly major city, and then the next day went west to Abel Tasman National Park. One of the must-do things in that park is to take a boat to pick up a trail that is accessible only from the water. The next photo was taken from the boat. The rock is called Split Apple Rock.
The boat dropped them off on a beach. Mike, Dave and the others on the boat were handed a map and shown where to meet the boat four hours later. They had to walk briskly to make it on time to the other boat. The trail led over headlands with views of beaches, then across the beaches, then back up over more headlands. Below are some photos of the hike.
On their second day up north they went on a two and a half hour guided bike ride. Dave, Mike, and two guides were dropped off at about 800 meters altitude, and the trail led them down almost to sea level. The trail was mostly downhill, over roots and other fairly significant obstacles, very narrow and often with a big drop off on one side. Dave said if he had known how challenging it would be, he probably wouldn't have gone. But he definitely had a sense of accomplishment afterwards. They learned a mountain biking skill of knowing when to lift off your seat and carry your weight on your pedals when going over bumps, which lowers the center of gravity and makes the bike more stable over challenging terrain. Dave said he spent a lot of the bike ride with his weight on the pedals. It rained the last part of the ride, and in the last photo, you can see LOTS of mud on their legs.
After the trip, Mike had a couple more days with us. On his last night, we went out for dinner and then took a drive up to Signal Hill. Dave and I had gone there soon after we arrived six months ago (and posted a bunch of photos on the blog after the visit), but we hadn't been back since then. The water you can see is Otago Harbour with the Peninsula in the background.
The day after Mike left, we moved to the house we bought a few months ago. (That's why this post is so long after the trip -- all my spare time recently has gone into getting our new house organized.) One of the last things we did in our rental house was take photographs of the tree growing in our neighbor's yard. It's a Southern Rata, a tree native to New Zealand, which blooms with red flowers at Christmas time. So this is the last photo of the beautiful view from our rental house.
They spent the night in Nelson, a fairly major city, and then the next day went west to Abel Tasman National Park. One of the must-do things in that park is to take a boat to pick up a trail that is accessible only from the water. The next photo was taken from the boat. The rock is called Split Apple Rock.
The boat dropped them off on a beach. Mike, Dave and the others on the boat were handed a map and shown where to meet the boat four hours later. They had to walk briskly to make it on time to the other boat. The trail led over headlands with views of beaches, then across the beaches, then back up over more headlands. Below are some photos of the hike.
On their second day up north they went on a two and a half hour guided bike ride. Dave, Mike, and two guides were dropped off at about 800 meters altitude, and the trail led them down almost to sea level. The trail was mostly downhill, over roots and other fairly significant obstacles, very narrow and often with a big drop off on one side. Dave said if he had known how challenging it would be, he probably wouldn't have gone. But he definitely had a sense of accomplishment afterwards. They learned a mountain biking skill of knowing when to lift off your seat and carry your weight on your pedals when going over bumps, which lowers the center of gravity and makes the bike more stable over challenging terrain. Dave said he spent a lot of the bike ride with his weight on the pedals. It rained the last part of the ride, and in the last photo, you can see LOTS of mud on their legs.
After the trip, Mike had a couple more days with us. On his last night, we went out for dinner and then took a drive up to Signal Hill. Dave and I had gone there soon after we arrived six months ago (and posted a bunch of photos on the blog after the visit), but we hadn't been back since then. The water you can see is Otago Harbour with the Peninsula in the background.
The day after Mike left, we moved to the house we bought a few months ago. (That's why this post is so long after the trip -- all my spare time recently has gone into getting our new house organized.) One of the last things we did in our rental house was take photographs of the tree growing in our neighbor's yard. It's a Southern Rata, a tree native to New Zealand, which blooms with red flowers at Christmas time. So this is the last photo of the beautiful view from our rental house.
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