Sheila writes:

We spent the day today tramping in the Abel Tasman National Park, the smallest national park in New Zealand, in the north western corner of South Island. It's so beautiful - located where rolling mountains clothed in dense temperate rainforest meet the sea. All along the track there are glimpses and views of turquoise sea and little bays and beaches, interrupted by rocky headlands. There are no roads in the national park and all visitors have to either walk in, arrive by water taxi or kayak. All along the track you meet people carrying massive rucksacks. We loved our walk and I especially enjoyed the plants - there are so many different kinds of mosses and ferns. We also briefly visited Adele Island just offshore where all mammals have been excluded and this has allowed the native bird population to regenerate and it's said that there are 10 times as many native birds there as on the adjacent mainland! The water and air temperatures were too cold to swim but we couldn't resist a paddle on Anchorage beach before catching our water taxi back to Matahau where we were staying at Old MacDonald's Farm - yes - I do not jest!

We managed to chalk up our fortieth mode of transport of our whole trip. The water taxis are small (12 seater I think) and they are towed by tractor from the road down to the beach, with all us passengers already on board in our lifejackets. Great fun!

We are off back to Wellington on the ferry tomorrow, to prepare for Clare's gig there on Monday night. En route we'll stay at our favourite hostel in Picton: Sequoia Lodge - where they serve free chocolate pudding and ice cream every night!