WEST COAST (NORTH)
Nelson / Westport / Lake Mahinapua

Hi Everyone

On Monday we left Wellington and got the ferry to Picton, the last hour of the crossing was through the Marlborough Sounds, the sun was shinning and it was really beautiful.
We headed to Nelson, stopping at the Pelorus reserve for lunch which was really nice. Once we got to Nelson we walked up to the centre point of New Zealand which had great views, before heading back down to the lodge for free beer tasting! woohoo! We had another roast dinner (love it!) followed by a night of jazz as Nelson was in the middle of a jazz festival. It was a good night.

Tuesday was an awsome day, we went sea kayaking through Abel Tasman National Park, it was beautiful a favourite kiwi holiday destination. There was loads of little coves and beaches and we saw a dolphin and a small blue penguin right next to our kayaks - it was amazing! Back at the lodge there was another jazz band in the evening and they were really good.

Wednesday we left Nelson and headed for Westport, apparently the best thing about Westport is seeing it through your rear view mirror as you leave the place! On the way we stopped at the Nelson Lakes for lunch and drove through Buller gorge, a really scenic drive. Arrived in westport and went for a beer with the new people we met on the bus - there were only two pubs in the whole place! The rear view mirror slogan is definatly right, it was a ghost town!

Yesterday we left westport (woohoo!) and headed down to Lake Mahinapua where we were going to have a fancy dress party at the famous poo pub. The theme was superheros. we stopped in Greymouth beforehand where we were given an hour and a half to create an outfit. Kim was a pirate and Tom went as the All Blacks Dan Carter (heroic NewZealand Rugby player) when we arrived at poo pub we met the ledgendary Les - the oldest publican in Newzealand he was 84 years old! Les cooked an awsome bar b q for us giving us each a huge piece of steak and venison stew it was yum! The night was brilliant, everyone looked really good and made a great effort. Today everyone is feeling very hungover and we are heading to Franz Josef (the glacier)

Hope everyone is okay at home - not missing us too much!

Be in touch soon love us x x x x