Time to travel back to the North of South Island. Sadly it was time to say farewell to Jo and Arthur in Christchurch and for the first time we went back over some route that we travelled before, including an overnight stop in Hamner Springs but no time to dally in the thermal springs on this visit!
Spent a couple of days in the delightful market town of Nelson. This included a long walk on the strangely named "Rabbit Island". A long sandy beach in a conservation area.
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| Rabbit Island |
Everyone had told us what a lovely sunny, laid back spot Nelson is and so it proved to be. Good sandy beaches up here, lots of vineyards and loads of fresh fruit from the many local orchards. They even grow hops - apparently a rarity in NZ. For most of our travels we've enjoyed fresh peaches and apricots, particularly the latter, but here we've also feasted on fresh strawberries. Very yummy!
Popped to Nelson market on Saturday before we left. This is a delightful mixture of arts and crafts, local groceries, honey, beer and wines. Most of which you can taste before buying! A great joy for Mags was the cheese stall that sold delicious sheep's cheese and yoghurt. It has proved difficult to get non dairy yoghurt on much of the trip so this was a great treat to go with the strawberries.
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| Nelson market -you can buy almost anything here |
Before leaving Nelson, we couldn't resist a trip to one of the many arty studios. The Point Studio is opposite a lovely bay, no problem seeing where Nikki Johnson the resident artist, gets her inspiration from. She makes all sorts of unusual pieces of jewellery and wall art and we succumbed to a rather fabulous "gecko" which we'll hang on a wall either in Herefordshire or Cyprus as a wonderful reminder of this magical place.
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| The Point Studio, Monaco, Nelson |
Travelled up to the golden bay area next. The road here from Nelson is one of those interesting ones full of pressy pusses. Takaka Hill between Motueka and Takaka is very steep with loads of tight bends with staggering views over forestation. We were both glad to get to the plain on the other side.
Again everyone had told us what a lovely area this is and it's true! Staying on a camp site right next to a huge sandy beach with practically no one on it. Very windy when we arrived yesterday but today dawned gloriously sunny and with very little wind. So for the first time on the trip, we were able to do some sunbathing on the beach. Fabulous as we need to rest up for a while! As a treat we've also moved from our faithful camper van into a little cabin for a couple of nights. So nice to have an en suite bathroom rather than trekking to the communal "ablutions"!
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| Pohara Beach - a stones throw from our camp site |
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