Nelson

I had a marvellous drive from Christchurch to Nelson. I t was a 5 hour drive over flat lowlands and through canyons. Very scenic.

I didn't get that many chances to take pictures as it was a narrow road and the triumph of finally getting past a string of caravans didn't really allow me to stop to take pictures.

Maruia falls

I did manage to stop off at the Maruia falls, through.


I arrived at Nelson and absolutely everything was closed. I fortunately had food that I could cook in the apartment, but I only had a total of two glasses of wine - on Chistmas Day!

I wandered around for a bit in the scorching sun and then had quite a nice evening in the apartment.

The next day was all by a sudden brimming with life! People eveywhere.

I went down to the local tourist centre and asked about good tramping (trekking) paths. They sugegsted the track opposite Pepin Island and the Boulder Bank. Excellent!

I started off with the path opposite Pepin Island, but it was a real struggle with my problem with heights. I managed to get up to the top, but I just couldn't continue alongside the ridge - it was just too steep.

I stayed up there for a bit and got comfortable enough to take a few pictures, as the view was too stunning to ignore.

Defeated by my vertigo, I moved on to my next tramp: the Boulder Bank. It's an amazingly thin (50-100 meters) 13 km long natural land strip of boulders, pebbles and sand stretching alongside the coast outside North Nelson.

I just had to walk it (at least part of it). It was a long stretch of stunbly pebbles, but an amazing feeling to walk this stretch with the sea on one side and a huge lagoon on the other.

The sun was amazingly hot and I got completely sun burnt despite putting on 50+ sunblock four times.

I found the perfect hut where I could have stayed intead at the hotel as well:

Hotel California, eh Nelson