Time to leave the North Island, and the vessel of choice is a ferry very similar to the ones used to cross the English Channel. Ah, this country continues to remind me of home. A very smooth crossing, taking only 3 hours to cross the Cook Straight (it has been known to take upwards of 10 hours, although the Captain was in a lot of trouble for that one).

From Picton and the Marlborough Sounds, we drove through Marlborough Valley, which is largely covered by vineyards - so we got into the spirit of the region and stopped for some wine tasting. I thought the bubbly was best, but that's hardly surprising is it?

Heading on, we passed through Havelock where they have the largest mussels you have every seen (the ones in the photos are real) and Pelorus Reserve.

After finally arriving into Nelson, we walked up a hill to the "Centre of New Zealand" for great views and novelty value. Back at the hostel (I say hostel, this place was nice) it was beer-tasting time, so we sampled all the local produce in a single day.

For the next two days we ventured into Abel Tasman National Park. We spent the first day trekking through the hills and forest, past rivers and over gorges and even over a temporarily dry delta (I say dry, just not under water at low tide). The second day we kayaked back south, past split apple rock, the 'mad mile' and a bazilion little coves and beaches. We sailed for part of it by holding our boats together, attaching a sail to the paddles and to the front of the boats and holding them up to catch the wind - this actually works very well, and we went very fast.

So glad to have had time to spend in the national park and, luckily, lots of other people hjave decided to extend their stay - which means there is room for me on the bus tomorrow!