Blenheim and Nelson

From Wellington, we took the ferry from North Island to South Island. The ferry people were very nice when they saw me hobbling along, and put me on the minibus between the terminal and the ferry itself at either end. We had arranged for the new car to be parked at the Picton terminal, so that was OK.

Our first stop on South Island was another wine area - this time Blenheim, better known as the Marlborough Region. Still pretty immobile, we stuck to driving around to the vineyards and stopping off for a very brief shuffle in a few places, generally just between car and shop or car and restaurant.

We found an authentic South American restaurant called Gramados, and an excellent chocolate maker called Makano, that made the absolutely delicious Macadamia Butter Toffee Crunch. It was so good, we had to go back again on the way out of town to get some more - and I don't even like nuts.

The next destination was Nelson, and the if hadn't got used to driving around very windy roads up and down the hills before, I certainly did so now. I reckon we must have driven at least three time the 'crow flies' distance, just because of all the twists and turns.

Nelson is in the Abel Tasman National Park, so the main reason for coming here is to get out into the park and walk around some apparently spectacular scenery. We had never planned to do any of the big multi day hikes, but we had thought we would get out and do some walks. Of course, with my back as it was, that was completely out of the question, so out stay in Nelson ended up being a relaxing and recuperation period instead.

Luckily, the hostel we were in, Tasman Bay Backpackers, was a nice friendly one. They had instituted a free pudding (chocolate ice cream in summer and chocolate sponge pudding in winter), and encouraged people to gather in the communal areas during that time and be sociable. It was a nice idea, and we got into conversation with a couple, when we couldn't help laughing at their efforts to play monopoly - he was very competitive, with a family tradition of playing to the death, whereas she really didn't care and just wanted it over with.

We did get into town a few times, and it was quite a pleasant little place, with a nice, if limited, market and some decent shops and places to eat. We quite liked Ford's.

I suspect we will have to come back here some time and actually see some of the area.

Unfortunately, no photos here as, in the main, I just couldn't face messing around with a camera. I thought I took a couple, but if I did, I can't find them.