We both fell in love again with Nelson. It's a really sweet town with a good down town and activities to do in town or near by. It's only an hour or so away from the famous Abel Tasman National Park where hikers and kayakers spend much time and energy. We hiked Abel Tasman when we were here last and didn't think we'd do it again this time.
During our stay in Nelson, we tried to get out and do some of the local hikes as much as possible. There is so much to do in the immediate area, it would be a shame not to experience some of the outdoors while there. On one such day, we decided to take a 5-7 hour hike up one of the many trails so we set off for the day. About 2 hours into our hike, there was a stream we had to cross. Nothing too large or rapid but we would have to navigate some big boulders just under the water to get across. John decided to go first. And that's when it all went wrong. One step and down he went. I was helpless. I couldn't grab him fast enough and the rocks were so slippery that he couldn't get his balance for anything. Down he went. At first I thought he was ok, just soaked from the fall, but he came out of the water holding his left hand and showed me his ring finger. I wish I'd taken a picture of it but imagine your first knuckle on your ring finger bent 90 degrees backward. That's what John's finger looked like. Yikes!
I checked for any bones sticking out of the skin and didn't see any. We thought about trying to pop it back into the socket but neither of us had the stomach for that. It was clear we had to get him to the hospital to figure out how to fix it so we turned around and sped down the trail to the car toward the hospital.
Once there, we got him signed in and in the queue to be looked at by a doctor. We were out within 2 1/2 hours. Not bad, really. They took 6 xrays total (3 before resetting the finger and 3 after to be sure no bones were cracked or broken) and they gave him a shot for the pain before they reset it. We walked away with...wait for it...NO BILL! Can you imagine. This visit was covered by what NZ has as accident insurance for EVERYONE. We were ready (and willing!) to pay for the emergency room visit but there was no need.
Almost 3 weeks on, John's finger is better, though still sore.
Ah, well. We'd wondered about the medical system in NZ, I guess we got a first hand picture of it.
Golden Bay
Soon, we headed north to Golden Bay where John's favorite beach Wharariki Beach is which is near Fairwell Spit which is a long strip of land that juts out into the ocean and is the northern most point of the south island. It's actually more north than the south end of the north island. It's all a bit confusing!
We were to spend 3-4 days there doing some hiking and poking around. We'd booked a place for the first night at a little beach town called Pohara Beach. We go to our destination and were pretty disappointed with the place but stayed the night anyway. We called the owner the next morning and told them we would be leaving sooner than planned and set out to find a different location for the rest of our stay in Golden Bay. As luck would have it, we found a perfect little Bach (Baches are little self contained cottages - Bach is short for Bachelor) in Ligar Bay which is just down the road from Pohara Beach. "Home" again, we unpacked and settled in for our short stay.We really wanted to go hiking in the area so decided to go the next morning to do a 7-8 hour hike on the northern most part of the Abel Tasman National Park. It was supposed to be a beautiful scenic hike across a small summit and then beautiful views of the ocean and beyond. The morning was grey and misty when we set out but we figured it would lighten up and the skies would clear by mid day. So we set out on our trip. Up, up, up we went, all the while in a misty cloud that wasn't getting lighter. By the time we reached the summit, we realized that we were not going to get any blue sky, nor were we going to see any great vistas. It was hard enough just to see the path in front of us for the fog and rain. Here we found ourselves again, ill equipped for the hike. We were soaked to the core by the time we reached the campground on the other side of the mountain. We decided we couldn't make the 4 hour hike back because our feet were soaked and we would have blisters the size of quarters if we attempted it. So we went to the information desk there, hoping to catch a bus back to the trailhead where we left our car. To our surprise, there were no more buses coming or going that day. Our only choice was to go back the way we came over which would be a 3 hour slog in wet clothes and boots or hitch hike. We decided to try to hitch hike so we set off down the road hoping a person would feel sorry for us. John stuck his thumb out to the first car that passed and they stopped immediately! Wow, that was easy.
It was a couple who were visiting from Holland who picked us up. What a relief and what an interesting couple. People who travel are so interesting! They deposited us safely to the other side of the mountain at the entrance to where our car was parked and we hiked the rest of the way to the car and headed home to dry out and regroup.(The picture to the right is Wharariki Beach)
We spent the rest of the days in Golden Bay just touring around the area.
We left Ligar Bay for Nelson on February 27 and stayed just one night in Nelson before heading out for Picton, our launching point for the big 3-day hike starting on March 1. Our drive to Picton was the wettest, rainiest, yuckiest day we've had yet. We we soooooooo glad that our hike was starting the next day and hoping like mad that the weather would improve before we set out. But, we'd learned our lesson in Golden Bay and, while in Nelson, purchased some gaiters so we would be prepared and keep our feet dry in the event our 3-day hike was a wet one. It turned out that it wasn't but we were ready for it!
Queen Charlotte Track
This is a famous hike that is considered one of NZ most popular. NZ bends over backwards to make hiking easy and comfortable and one of the services provided is to move your overnight luggage from location to location so you don't have to hike with all your bags in tow. John and I carried our backpack each day but our overnight bag was deposited at our overnight destination each day. Nice!
(The picture to the right is from the track looking out over the Marlborough Sound.)
The first day, in my opinion, was the hardest day but only because of the length of the hike. It was a relatively flat hike so no real altitude gains but it was a 16 mile hike. That was a long day. We stayed at a lovely motel along the way that provided home cooked meals and nice accommodations. They also have glow worms! Glow worms are found all over NZ and are often tourist attractions but they had them in their back yard. I guess glow worms are really fly larvae that hang down from dark caves or rock outcroppings. Something in their bodies causes them to glow in the dark. Sure enough, we walked back to that outcropping that evening after dark and the hillside was full of little glowing darlings everywhere. Weird but kinda neat, too. It was like the sky full of stars but at your feet instead.
The next day we set out for what was supposed to be a tough hike. Lots of uphill and downhill. This day gave us good weather and grand views of the Marlborough Sound area. Lovely day...the hike wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be. This day was only 14 miles. We spent the night in a "backpacker's motel" which is essentially a house where the bedrooms are rented out. We had one room, another was rented by a couple of young women and the living room was inhabited by a Swedish young man whom we'd passed on the hike earlier that day. Not so great accommodations but we were grateful for the bed and excited to be able to finish the trip the next day.
We were up and ready to go first thing the next day and headed out for the shortest day we'd have of the 3 days. This day would only be a 12 mile hike. We had to be to our destination by 4pm to catch our boat to Picton so we were determined to set a pace. We got their 2 hours early. Oh well, we rested and enjoyed the feeling of not walking. It can be very repetitious and tedious to walk for so long. To pass the time, I began counting the number of steps I took in a minute and then did the math in my head to figure out how many steps that was per hour, etc. I calculated that I'd taken about 132,000 steps on our trip. Whew, that's a lot.
Back in Picton, we went out to a nice Indian meal and home to pack and get ready for our ferry ride to the North Island and the government seat, Wellington. This would be the last of the South Island until April 26 when we return to Christchurch to catch our plane to Australia for the last part of our trip, 12 days in Port Douglas, Australia.
Wellington
Whew, what a contrast it is coming from a 3-day hike in the wilderness (sort of!) and into a bustling, vibrant, frenetic city! It's a nice contrast and one that both John and I have been savoring.We are staying in a condo (they call them apartments here in NZ) of someone whom we met via the lady we stayed with when we were here in 2007. We'd originally wanted to stay a month in Wellington and were looking to rent an apartment or home for that period of time so John contacted the very sweet lady we stayed with during our last trip here to see if she could help us find something. She did although we only have it for a week. The apartment is on the 7th floor of a 10 floor 50's vintage apartment building. It is on the corner so has views north, east and west of Wellington. A better view would be hard to find.
The wind blows strongly here in Wellington. The winds come up through the Cook Strait and pummel the city and surrounds most days of the year. It's funny, though, it's kind of nice to hear the wind blowing around at night.
But, never underestimate the power of the wind. A couple of days ago, I washed my Teva sandals and set them out on the deck to dry while John and I went for a hike. It was a beautiful sunny day, the wind was blowing pretty gustily but nothing, I thought, that would be strong enough to blow my sandals away. Wrong. Upon our return, the deck was empty, nadda, nothing...in hind sight, looking at all the other decks in the building, no one else has ANYTHING on their decks. I suppose they know that nothing would stay put so they don't put anything there. So, no more sandals for me. They've flown away into the cliffs and bush below the building, never to be seen again.
That pretty much brings you all up to date with what's happening here. On Wednesday, we leave early in the morning to go to Kapiti Island. Kapiti is a nature preserve that you can visit on day trips or on an overnight stay. We'll be staying overnight and as part of the trip, we will be taken to see the indigenous wildlife on the island and maybe, just maybe, we'll see the elusive kiwi bird. They are nocturnal birds and are very rare. I hope we'll be able to see one.
After Kapiti, we'll be heading north to New Plymouth in the Taranaki region of the North Island for a 3 day music festival called WOMAD. We went to WOMAD several times while it was in Seattle but after 9/11 the festival couldn't get visas for all the acts any more so they've ceased coming to the U.S. We're happy to be able to see it here!
So that'll take us through Sunday, March 15. From there, no one knows where we'll be. We'd like to do some hiking around Mt. Egmont which is a beautiful mountain in the Taranaki region. We'll see. We also want to settle some place for a longer time so we're just not sure what will happen after Sunday. I'll let you know as I know.
Til then...on to more adventures.
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