NZ 2026

 Today was all about the drive back from Nelson to Christchurch - and it took up pretty much the whole day. We checked out about 9.30am and headed east. This was quite windy, through the mountains to Blenheim. On the way we stopped at Hevelock at the head of Pelarus Sound, which turned out to be a pretty town with nice galleries. Then we carried on to Blenheim, where we again stopped to stretch our legs and walked around a market and visitor centre. At this point the road turns south along the coast. It's less windy and easier driving. At one point we stopped for a break and found there was a sea lion nursery, granite rocks with lots of protected pools containing sea lion pups, some with their mothers. Ohau Point Part way down the east coast we stopped at Kaikoura for lunch and to walk up and down the main street for a while. It's a busy seaside holiday town in the high season but fortunately was a bit quieter today.  Just south of Kaikoura we stopped at a pebbly beach with gr...

 We woke to a greyer and wetter Nelson this morning. This was a particular problem because we'd largely run out of things to do already. There are plenty of other places to go in the broader district, but we didn't really want to drive a couple of hours to get somewhere. Fortunately, Lynn thought to go to the motor museum, one of the few local indoor attractions. And it was better and more interesting than we extected. As we were leaving, Lynn spotted a group of shops across the road and we spent some time walking about and looking at things before we went back to our hotel for lunch. In the afternoon we were fortunate to spot a gap in the rain and walked up to the shopping district to stretch our legs. In the evening we went to a Thai restaurant, Nahm, on the waterfront and had an excellent meal, though most of the meals throughout our trip have been great.

 Grey and wet today when we woke. This was not a surprise and why we went to Abel Tasman yesterday, while the weather held. I think we have been lucky that it has stayed fine as long as it has. This was a good excuse for a fairly quiet day, going out late. We drive up to Moutere, north east of Nelson. This is the centre of the local wine district. It turned out that Upper Moutere was very small, only 4-5 buildings. We went in to a couple of craft shops and had a coffee, then went to Heaphy Vineyard for wine tasting and lunch before driving back to Nelson.

 Today was an outing to Abel Tasman National Park - I think this is one of the things people particularly come to Nelson for. So we drove north along the coast the Kaiteriteri, which is nat the southern end of the park and where everyone leaves from. It turns out that the park is quite rugged, with thickly wooded mountains, so the walking is all along the coast and there are several companies with boats that essentially shuttle people to various bays and beaches. Looking out on Kaiteriteri We booked a boat at 12.45 which took us up to Medlands Bay. It was grey and overcast but reasonably warm. Medlands Bay We got off here and walked over the headland to Bark Bay and back. Weka are plentiful From there we re-traced our steps - we were picked up by the same boat on its way back from the top of the park and cruised for an hour back to Kaiteriteri, stopping at a couple of other beaches, then drove back to Nelson.

 As our first day in Nelson we decided to look around the town. It's a decent size, but there's not really that much here and I think we've exhausted the town now (unless we want to go to the peanut butter museum). We started off driving the few blocks into the middle of town and parking by the Queen's Gardens. These were small but surprisingly pretty. Right next to the gardens was the Sutter Gallery and so we looked at their decent but not amazing exhibitions and then went the few blocks to the main shopping street and mall. We stopped in the local museum, which was small and mostly just told stories of the local area but did a good job of it., At the top of the street there are steps up to a surprisingly ugly cathedral. Having seen everything in the centre of town we retreated to our room to recover and have lunch. In the afternoon we drove a way north to Cable Bay. There wasn't very much there, but it's an attractive spot and we walked up to the lookout. That...

 Today was essentially driving. We checked out of our hotel in Christchurch, filled up with petriol and drove to Nelson. There are a couple of routes - through the mountains, or around the coast. So we decided to go via the mountains (a few minutes shorter) and come back along the coast. It was about a six hour drive and that should be okay but honestly it felt pretty long. The whole drive was scenic. Essentially along broad, often farmed valleys between high peaks. Though when you're in that scenery it can be hard to find a particular photo. The whole thing is impressive but when you try to find a single view the scale and sweep seems lost. The best I could do - near Hanmer Springs We stopped a few times to stretch our legs, including in Murchison where we spent a week, fifteen years ago while I was kayaking. Neither of us could remember anything about the town which is sparse and nondescript. By the time we reached Nelson I was very ready to stop. We're staying at The Sails, ...