Abel Tasman and Golden Bay

Hello from Nelson!

We're spending a lazy weekend here - thinking of everyone at home, hoping that you're enjoying your easter-egg hunts and the long easter weekend :)
A quick blog-update (and hopefully we'll have some new photos up as well from our recent hikes, bikes and kayaks as Gavin is currently updating those). We've been having a great time (do I say that in every entry??). We moved from the West coast up to the North West of the South Island, heading through Motueka and booking our kayak trip in Abel Tasman, followed by some waiting out the weather for a few days in Golden Bay before taking to the sea in our double 'sea bear' kayak in the gorgeous Abel Tasman National Park. The slogan on the hatch of the sea kayak was 'It's better with a friend'... and I have to say, I agree, especially when that friend is a boy who can paddle quite well in big waves and against the wind, and has a knack for spotting penguins in the distance...wait, that's not a penguin, it's another seagull... :)
Abel Tasman Park is incredible. It's NZ's smallest national park, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in stunning scenery. Crystal clear waters, rugged coastline interspersed with beautiful, sometimes deserted beaches, islands teeming with seals (and seal pups that we saw playing in the water about 2 meters from our kayak). Incredible (and I'm not copying the adverts - that's exactly what we saw)!. Oh, and did I mention that in the entire 2-day period that we were kayaking, we killed ONLY 4 SANDFLIES between us??? There were practically NO BUGS...which meant that we could relax and just enjoy the sun and beaches. We started by taking a water taxi, with our kayak strapped onto the back of the boat, up to our starting point near Onetahuti beach, where the water taxi dropped us off, and we were on our own to kayak back down to the beginning of the park by 4pm the next day. We camped the night at a tiny campsite (only room for 6 tents) on Medlands beach (rented a tent and stove from the kayak place, a great alternative to staying in a hut - no snoring old men keeping us awake at night :) The kayaking was awesome, we went at our own pace, explored the coves at high tide, paddled around the islands with seals, tried to find penguins, and really just had a fantastic time. The wind magically turned to come from behind most of the time, so it was pretty relaxing kayaking. Although it got a little chilly at night (there was frost!!!), we had a perfectly clear, full moon to light our dinner (and great weather for all of the kayaking as well)!
Otherwise, we really enjoying the few days we spent in Golden Bay area - exploring the super hippy-dippity town of takaka, a bike ride out to some deserted beaches on the west coast, a night spent at the DOC campground at the northern tip of Abel Tasman, which included a trail run down and back one section of the tramping track (and my knee didn't hurt at all - so relieved), and some cider and beer driking relaxing on the beach :) We did have a day of absolutely pouring rain, which steered us into 'Mussel Inn' for some mussel chowder and reading, and some laundry-ing at a local campsite. We blissfully spent our time in Golden bay (about 5 days) totally unaware of the time...apparently NZ changed over to daylight savings, and we only found out when we showed up at the kayak rental on THURSDAY at 7:30am (or what we thought was 8:30am)...ooops, almost a full week after the change-over! :)
I'm now watching the sun-set, in my fold-out chair next to the van, parked on the pier in Nelson, fully relaxed after spending the day in the city, buying some fresh fruits and veggies at the saturday market in the city, and enjoying a latte on the patio of a cute little cafe. We're about to start some bbq-ing - we're attempting some fish on the bbq tonight, tarakihi fillets with fresh veggies. mmmm. Actually, I should get on that before the sun goes down! HUGE HUGS, a