January 25 - Nelson, New Zealand

Here we are in Nelson, the oldest city on the South Island and the second oldest in New Zealand.  It’s on the shore of the Tasman Sea and was established in 1851.  I booked a tour to the Abel Tasman National Park and Awaroa Lodge.  Nelson itself has a population of around 55,000 and it is supposed to have some lovely historic homes, but I really wanted to see a little of the countryside.

We boarded a bus and took an hour ride to a little town (whose name sadly I can’t remember) and we boarded a large catamaran. We set sail into a lovely bay with lots of sheltered coves.  Here are a few interesting facts about this National Park. It encompasses some 59,000 acres and encompasses Golden/Mahua and Tasman Bay; yet this is the smallest of New Zealand’s national parks.  The tide in the bays can vary as much as 5 meters which makes boating close to the shoreline a little bit tricky.  Most of the bays are surrounded by tree-covered mountains with some gorgeous narrow beaches by the water.  One would think the beaches would all be white sand but some of them are a glorious golden color because of the mineral content in them.

That's our boat.  It had a walkway which unfolded so we didn't have to wade in any water.

Look how the elements have cleft this rock

The shore around the bays.  Look at that Carolina blue sky!

Our driver Mike took as close to the shoreline to a place where there were a few seals, including a pup, sunning themselves on the rocks.  Mike looked like my idea of a Kiwi surfer dude.  He had long blond hair, was very tan, and barefoot.  He wasn’t a young fellow and he spoke with a very Kiwi accent which I didn’t always understand.  We also had with us Ian, a published author, and Des, short for some long name, also blond Kiwi guys.  And then there was Charlotte, a blond surfer girl  from (of all places) Richmond, Virginia and a graduate of JMU.

If you look on the left on the rock you'll see a seal enjoying the sunshine

It was a gorgeous sunny day and the temperature was in the high 70° s.  The weather gods have truly been smiling on me so far.  Ian and Mike told me they hadn’t had such a nice day in a long time.  We rode for about an hour and then went ashore and walked up a trail to the Awaroa Lodge, the only lodge in the national park.  Along the way Des pointed out trees and ferns and talked about some of the birds found in the woods.  One thing I thought was quite interesting was that as we crossed the bay there were swaths of trees that were obviously dying; they were completely brown and gray.  I asked and was told they had been purposely poisoned because they were an invasive species of pine.  Instead of cutting them down in which case here could be seeds from pinecones that would continue to propagate them, they are being killed.  Likewise along our trail there were traps designed to trap some of the same pests I saw in the forest the other day on the North Island.

The beach we landed on

At the lodge I had a very tasty lunch of fish and chips accompanied by a nice glass of a NZ Sauvignon Blanc.  I shouldn’t tell but there was a dark chocolate mousse for dessert.  Then it was time to make our way back to the beach and our boat.  The walk was  a little longer than advertised and I can tell you that walking in sand is not an easy thing if you have any knee or hip issues, but I made it and I felt like I got a good workout.  You know, I looked at my photos and I didn't take any of the trail or the lodge and I think it was because I was so intent on not tripping and falling and then so tired that I forgot to take them.  Wow, I regret that!

At low tide some couple get married in that natural arch

I have to say a something about the countryside we traveled through.  This area is one of the breadbaskets of New Zealand.  We passed through lots of vineyards and lots of apple and kiwi orchards.  The apple trees are staked up and grow not like our trees.  Instead they are kind of flat, more like the way pole beans are grown.  The kiwis are the same.  We passed lots of little sheep paddocks and fields with what looked like perhaps peanut crops and potatoes.  Since it’s midsummer here nothing I saw looked ready for harvest.

A vineyard along the way

Hard to see but the field in that back is an apple orchard with the trees staked up

On the way back I was sitting across the aisle from Ian, one of our guides and he was a very interesting fellow.  He too looked like he should be looking for the next great wave, but he’s a published author who is writing another book.  His great-grandfather fought with the Kiwis in WWI. He was at Gallipoli and then later fought in the trenches along the Somme in France.  Ian told me that his grandfather had written extensive diaries and journals about his time in the war, but what he wrote wasn’t just about the military things he did.  Instead he wrote a lot about the emotions and feelings and in the writing was trying to convey to his wife back home what it was like being on the other side of the world away from family in the midst of the horror of life in the trenches.  After his ancestor died, the family found all the journals and Ian decided to do some more research and write a non-fiction nook.  He was a really interesting man to talk with and I think I’m going to get his book if I find it as an e-book.

Anyway, we got back later than expected and I was the absolute last passenger to get back onboard.  I cleaned up and met my new friend Marilyn from Park City, Utah, for a drink and then dinner at the TK Grill.  She’s a widow as well and this is her first solo cruise.  We laughed a lot and talked a lot.  So much so that we didn’t have time for dessert (Oh Dear! Will I survive?) because we wanted to go to the show of our last night’s dinner host, Marcus Winter (aka the Sandman).

His show was wonderful again.  He and his wife, who was at dinner with us too, are large part Maori and two of the most delightful people. As Marcus is doing his art he encompasses Maori stories and history and has Maori music playing in the background.  Of course after the show Marilyn and I went to the Club to dance. Other new friends Kim and Leon from Raleigh, NC were there.  They’ve been there every night.  It was a great night!