Otago Peninsula

I spent the day milling around the Otago Peninsula that lies to the East of Dunedin. Its a lovely place that's littered with coves and beaches as well as modest hills, the only flat section being the perimeter at sea level. I first stopped at Lanarch Castle - The only castle in NZ and was built in the late 19th century by an extrovert Australian banker. It fell into disrepair after he committed suicide and was later bought by the Barker family who have spent a lifetime renovating it and now call it their home. In an effort to raise some money they have opened up the house and gardens to the public. I only spashed out on the garden ticket as I felt the full entry pass was a bit steep for a backpacker like me! I wandered around the small gardens and looked at the modest castle through the windows. It was an interesting place. Following that I drove along the backroads (which were mainly sealed!) through the village of Portabello and on to the North-Eastern most point on the peninsula which is home to a colony of Royal Albatrosses. I wandered around the information centre but did not spot any of the massive sea birds hanging on the wind. I took 'the scenic route' back and, back in the hostel, I'm about to put a load in the washing machine once the previous bloke has come and emptied it!

Dunedin

This morning I said my goodbyes to Surat Bay and took the drive non-stop to Dunedin. checked in to the Jolly Poacher and headed into town for a squiz. I got some lunch and sauntered to the Otago Museum and had a good look round. The streets are steep in Dunedin. It's quite and effort just walking around. The country's oldest university is here and there's a definite student vibe. I'm now back in the hostel taking advantage of the free internet!

The Catlins

We just managed to check out of the hostel in time before any more hassle with the management. R+R were heading to the West Coast and I was heading South East and followed the Southern Scenic Route south through Manapouri and into The Catlins. The drive was such a contrast to the Fiordland I had come from, mountains gave way to rolling hills and lots of large farms – or 'stations'. I stopped off at The Clifden Suspension Bridge – an old disused bridge crossing a once mighty river that now has its flow limited by a hydro electric dam. I passed through Riverton, the South Island's oldest settlement just west of Innvercargel then through the city itself – nothing much to see here so I stocked up on food (more pasta) and headed into the Catlins proper. This is the South Eastern corner of New Zealand. A sinuous road winds through rain forest and over small hills down to moody beaches with deep dunes that are home to sea lions and penguins. I had planned to base myself at a place R+R had recommended. Surat Bay Lodge was situated at the Eastern end of The Catlins so I drove past all the 'attractions' and found the place and settled in for the night. Surat Bay Lodge is unsurprisingly on Surat Bay overlooking the sea in a beautifully rural location. Caroline, the owner welcomed me in and showed me to the dorm – there were a Taiwanese couple staying too and the lady spoke good English so we spoke for a while while we cooked our tea. I spent the evening sitting in front of the fire while watching The Bourne Identity on a badly tracked TV. To be honest, I was surprised that you could could get TV out here.

I woke up early and jumped in the car and headed back west to the sights I had sped past the previous day. First stop was Curio Bay. A beach that at low tide revels a petrified forest of fallen trees and stumps from the Jarrasic period. These fossilized lumps were amazing to see. I found it hard to believe that they were so old and not in a museum. Only in NZ. From here I slowly wound my way back east to the hostel stopping off at various beach stops and waterfall walks. The cloud had hung low all day giving the whole area a mystic feel, and this was compounded when I spotted a flock of sheep walking along the road towards me emerging from the fog! Back in the warmth of the hostel the fire was stoked and I tucked into a plate of pasta. I had the hostel to myself so I kicked back and relaxed.

The sunlight poured through the curtains indicating the arrival of a good day. Spurred on by this I jumped into the shower and made a packed lunch and headed out on a walk along the beach headed for Cannibal Bay – the next bay around. The sun was out, and in my eyes as I picked my way around the headland at high tide. Walking with my head down to avoid the glare I almost fell over a sleeping sea lion basking in the warmth of the sun! Retreating, I gave the beast a wide berth and continued on my way. Turned out there were tens of these massive sea creatures all over the long beach, disguised among the lumps of driftwood and sea weed. On my way back the tide had come in further, narrowing my passage of safety and I was chased by a particularly large male at one point as I tried to get past! Spying another large one further up the beach I decided to take a detour through the dunes – bad idea. Once finally back on the beach I got wet feet again by trying to get past a sleeping giant. It blew me away to see so many sea loins up close in the natural environment. Safely back in the hostel I made a brew and got ready to go Penguin spotting. I had been told that the rare Yellow-eyed penguin comes ashore about 2hrs before sunset so I headed over to Roaring Bay to hang out in the hide. I waited half an hour and say nothing. Maybe today wasn't the day. I started walking back to the car when I happened to glance back and spot a little black head bob up from under the breaking waves. I know instantly what it was and ran back to the hide to get a closer look The little thing got to its feet and waddled ashore, shook itself off and jumped from rock to rock to get to its nest. it was so cool to see, there are apparently only 3000 breeding birds in the world. Then another one came in! 2 penguins on the beach! A good day.

Fiordland

We drove in convoy to Te Anau via the Glenorchy Cafe for another smoothie and a cake. Passing through NZ's most inland village and though the surprisingly un-mountainous northern Southland we made our way to Te Anau, gateway to Fiordland. After picking up essential supplies (pasta) we headed to our Hostel – Barnyard Backpackers and received an unwelcoming welcome from the owner. Anyway we got a decent nights kip and woke up early to go to Milford Sound. The drive was amazing. It started pretty ordinary but got pretty dramatic sharpish. Soon we were driving through deep deep valleys and passing avalanche runs with no stopping signs. Before long the road descended into a pitch black tunnel riddled with pot holes. It was 1300m long and not wide enough for 2 vehicles to pass. Not being straight it is kinda like driving blind! Popping out the other side – snow blind, quickly rectified with sunglasses. descending steeply we entered the settlement at the head of the fiord. We had booked onto the 1315 boat and we boarded with anticipation. It was amazing. i wasn't too bothered about a cruise to be honest and if I wasn't with R+R then I may not have bothered but I'm really glad I did, even if it was just for viewing Mitre Peak from its base – at approx a mile high, its the highest mountain in the world to rise directly out of the sea. The pilot of the ship was skilled to put our bow right under waterfalls without wrecking the boat. Once we had made it out of the sound into the Tasman sea we about turned and headed back. The weather was superb for us – bright skies and a slight breeze. Not the wet torrential rain Milford is known for. However, waterfalls are at their best when it's raining. Back on dry land we stopped off on the way back to partake in a few short walks to interesting tourist sights and tried to stop some Japanese twats feeding the Kea's – they chose not to listen. We picked up some beers and headed back to the hostel for some games of pool. Rob diffused a slight altercation between the hostel owner and us and we moved rooms and slept like babies.

Kinloch

Arriving in Kinloch, population 7, I went into the bar/restaurant/office/reception/front room of the Kinloch Lodge and was greeted warmly by an English bloke with a very large plaster on his head. Peter had moved to NZ 6 years ago and had bought the accommodation lodge and a set about renovating it. He had also fallen off his bike thee day before. The small restaurant does very well at weekends and is frequented by those in the know from Queenstown and beyond. No sooner than I had found my room, the bright green Jucy Crib campervan of R+R arrived. Happy hour in the 'bar' was between 5 and 6 so it was Monteiths all round! The free hot tub then beckoned despite the rain.

We had planned to walk the first section of the greenstone track – a well regarded walk through some amazing mountain scenery. however, due to the heavy rain we had during the night the fords on the road to the start of the track were too high to cross. Peter recommended the we drive the other way and take the easy walk around Lake Sylvan. We couldn't quite get to the start of the track due to a windfallen tree, but we parked up and headed on on foot anyway. The walk started by crossing an impressive swing bridge and then through an ancient forest. However, we couldn't get much further. The entire forest floor was under a foot of water. Some flash flood! Back in the car we headed further up the road to the trail head of the Routeburn Track. The new start/end shelter looked just that – new. Seemed a shame though as the track was closed due to the starting swingbridge sustaining some terminal damage due to a wayward tree. Back at the lodge, Peter had baked us muffins for braving the weather. Still feeling underwalked, we took Samson, the golden retriever for a stroll. Back in the warmth of the bar, we had another Montieths.

Skiing in Wanaka

So I eventually made it over the southern Alps using the Haast Pass. The snow we had been getting has eased for the time being allowing the road clearer's to get on with their job. So with my newly aquirered chains I set off from Greymouth on the 6hr drive to Wanaka. I stopped off at Fox Glacier on the way to stretch my legs and take a walk around Lake Matheson. This was formed when the giant chunk of ice left over from the retreating Fox Glacier melted at the end of the last ice age. Reflections of Mt Cook and Mt Tasman can often be seen in the reflective waters. I was lucky to see this as the clouds over the alps parted and gave me my first glimpse of NZ's highest peak. The Haast Pass was covered with grit, but no snow on the road, however the trees and floodplain either side of the tarmac were covered in at least 50cms. Someone had stopped to build a snowman that waved at drivers heading inland. I arrived in Wanaka just as the sun dipped behind the mountains that surround the small town. I located my hostel and booked myself in. Wanaka Bakpaka was full with skiers and boarders come to take advantage of the recent dump. I found my room and bagged a bed then headed out into town where I met up with Rhona – a friend who was doing a season in Queenstown and had caught a bus to spend a few days in Wanaka skiing and catching up with me. We got some food and some beers and caught up until the pub we were in got very empty. So we decided to call it an early night before going skiing in the morning.

I picked Rhona up from her hostel and we made our way up to Treble Cone ski area. With two sets of skiing gear on the back seats we were turning down people hitching for lifts. With a sympathetic shrug we declined many desperate looking snow junkies. NZ ski areas differ in many ways from their European counterparts, but the first thing you notice is the lack of gondalas to get you from valley floor to the snow line. Here, it is up to the motorist to get themselves to the bottom of the chair lifts. All the ski areas in the Queenstown/Wanaka region are accessed by extremely steep, skinny, twisty gravel roads that are often iced up or covered in snow. Rhona informed me that the road up to TC (local speak for Treble Cone) was one of the most feared. Apparently a few years ago a bus had 'fallen off' killing everyone on board. Not deterred by this and encouraged by the warm sun that fell onto the mountain side I pointed my little FWD car up the slope. About half hour later we were successfully in the car park and being ushered to a spot. It wasn't long before I was clipping into my skis for the first time in 8 years and being dragged up the button lift to the top of the nusary slope. Having skied only for one week before and since taking up snowboarding, I was sure that it would come back to me – it's like riding a bike isn't it?! Rhona giggled as I floundered. But it wasn't long before I was remembering how to parallel turn and was making it cleanly down the slope. Time for the real slopes! I spent the rest of the day battling down the green and blue slopes while Rhona stuck with me correcting my wrongs. There was a bit of a wind that brought the temperature down to -17 degrees. one of the chair lifts had a warning that all exposed skin must be covered! All in all, not a bad day skiing! We headed off the hill before the road down iced over and headed to town for a drink. Wanaka has a really awesome cinema that has sofas and an old VW Beatle you can sit in! Half way through there is an interval! Rhona and I caught a film called 'Im Not There' – A hard film to follow depicting the crazy life of Bob Dylan.

I woke up the next day feeling pretty rough – the start of man-flu. We spent the morning wondering around town then headed up the hill about lunch time. It was such a nice day I didn't want to miss out on a day's skiing. It wasn't so cold up top and my skiing was progressing, well Rhona said so anyway! Back on the lakeshore, Rhona caught her bus back to Queenstown, she had work the next morning. I shall see her again when I visit Queenstown later in the month. I felt a bit claustrophobic in my hostel packed with bouncy people, so I went out for some Thai food with an Aussie bloke who was in my room. The freezing Wanaka air and clear skies bode well for the following mornings weather.

After a lie-in I was feeling a bit better. I wanted to go biking in 'Sticky Forest' – the local biking spot but couldn't stretch to the $120 a day rental for a decent bike. Instead I just took a bike from the Hostel for a spin around a bit of lake Wanaka. It was a nice ride that took me to a great hill overlooking the town and the large bay of lake Wanaka that the town lies on. After I got my breath back I drove on over to the Airstrip where there is a public shooting range called 'Have A Shot' where picked up a .22 rifle and a bow. I hung around the airstrip for bit to see some skydivers landing which was cool.

I checked out of Wanaka Bakpaka the following morning and hung around town for a while before heading off over the Crown Range into the Queenstown area. I was heading for Kinloch Lodge, near Glenorchy on the northern tip of Lake Wakitipu but needed to stock up on food before heading into the wilderness. The road between Queenstown and Glenorchy ventures along the banks of the lake and is truly spectacular and was over too quickly. The sign reads – 'Welcome to Glenorchy, Gateway to Paradise'. Apt, seeing as Paradise is a hamlet 16km further down the gravel road. Either way, Its a cool little place with an ace cafe. I had a berry smoothie – help for the cold. They were selling the cookies the size of a pizza. I checked my mobile and had a message from Rob saying Rach and him were heading to Kinloch too! Sweet! I couldn't reply – no signal out here. The 26km round the top of the lake were mainly on gravel roads and over ricketly one lane bridges.

Retreat to Greymouth!

So after my relativlt long stay in Global Village I decided to move south and try to be in Wanaka in 2 days for some skiing. I booked my hostel in Wanaka and drove south to the Glaciers. I stopped in Franz Josef with plans to do some hikes up to, and around, the two Glaciers Franz Josef and Fox. Just as I checked into Glow Worm Cottages hostel, The wintery showers kicked in. We were basically at sea level and the snow line had dropped dramatically to just above us. I thought about the Alpine crossing I had to make to get to Wanaka and started to get worried about the abundance of snow at lower altitudes. A trip to the iSite informed me that the Haast Pass was indeed closed (this is quite rare as it is only just above 500m) and the bad weather was set to contine until Saturday afternoon, when the road may be opened but snow-chains were to be used by all vehicals. Hmmm, I had no snow chains. There was nowhere to get chains in Franz. Oh well, we'll see what the weather is like in the morning. One cold night spent in an unheated room and I awoke to see a blanket of snow covering the village. I didnt need to check to see if the road was open - not a chance.
Back at the iSite, the lady informed me that it was foolish to travel any further south without chians - especially if I was planning to hang around Wanaka and Queenstown for a while. Armed with this info, I decided that I needed chains. I could hire them in Christchurch - but I needed them to get there. Reluctantly, I creeped my back the 173km back up the coast dodging black ice to Greymouth again. I coughed up $170 for some chains with the hope of selling them when I leave the country. That is SO much money - i really hope I can.

So Im back in Global Village - relaxing by the fire.

The West Coast

Im now well and truly on the west coast! From my tour-bus riddled hostel in the nothingness of Westport town I left early and drove north up the coast to Karamea - the northern most town on the west coast. I called in at the cafe and got a coffee and a home-made monster sausage roll to keep me going till lunch. Nearby there are some amazing karst landscapes with massive limestone arches and caves - i mean HUGE! to there involved a 1hr drive on a gravel road and then a 2 hr hike through rainforest but it was amazing when I got there. I cant really describe it - just wait till I upload the photos. After a late lunch in the same cafe, I drove south, back through Westport to Punakaiki. The hostel here was great with an awesome stove to keep us warm. The hostel was build on a big rock that had been incorperated into the furniture so it protruded through the floor! I stayed 2 nights there and visted the nearby Pancake Rocks and did yet more walking in my new boots - now dry!

Yesterday I moved on and checked into the Global Village hostel in Greymouth. I stayed here last time I was here and it was great so I decided to come back, even if Greymouth itself does not have much to offer. I took a day trip/drive up to NZ hightest village - Arthur's Pass. The village has the same name as the alpine pass that it lies 4km to the East of. It was a spectacular day with crip blue skys and a recent snowfall on the flanks of the mountains that sorrounded the village. High up you could see skiers and snowbaorders on the club fields above the village. The drive up the pass was supurb - true alpine driving! I did a few hikes up the sides of the valley on each side with all my gear on - it was pretty chilly!

Back down at sea level I finished my book - High Society by Ben Elton. Never ready one of his books before but coulnt put this one down. With that happy/sad feeling you get when you finish a book I tried to get an early nights sleep. Denied once again. Up until 2230 I was alone in my small dorm. Then 2 pleasent but loud Aussies and and Irish lad boshed into the room. They didnt all settle down until well after 0200 and as soon as they hit the pillow all 3 snored in unison. Even with my noise-cancelling headphones on with my music playing, the bass reverberations were loud and clear. A restless night. In the morning I decided to stay another 3 nights (4th night free) but opted to move rooms. Its got more beds, but less potential noise! This hostel is such a nice place to unwind and take a break from 'travelling'!

Today I've just been chiling out by the fire - dozing - walking around town and reading my new book - One Red Paperclip.

Abel Tasman Coast Track and Golden Bay

So I did it! The famous Abel Tasman coast track that is. It's a really popular route in the summer months, but only see's 10% of its traffic over the winter. I caught the 1330 water taxi from Marahau that actully started up a street on dry land! The boat was on a trailer mounted to a tractor that pulled us along the beach front and then depsited us down the slip way into the sea! Pete, our pilot told us to hang on as it was going to be a rough trip! I think it had something to do with the last few days of the storm that was still hanging around out at sea. For us however, it was a fine day. An hour and a half later I was deposited on the remote Tortaranui beach. The boat backed in as far as possible amoung the breaking waves and I was told to make a jump for it when the waves sucked back. "shall I remove my boots?" I asked. "nah, you'll be fine".
So I arrived at the start of my 3 day walk with soaked feet. Despite Pete's reassurances I did get wet. A wave broke just as I leaaped off the back of the boat and went in up to my knees. This depressed me somewhat as the over-riding factor that led to me buying some boots was so I would have dry feet. Oh well. I started off down the coastal track in good time so that I would make the Awora estuary crossing bang on low tide. It was only an 90 minute walk away. No sooner as I had started walking 2 German girls came the other way saying that the track was blocked by a large landslip. This was a set back. The hut was on the other side of the esturay and the slip and I had no tent. I decided to carry on non the less to see if I could find a way around the slip. With renewed confidence I set of again. About 10 mins later I met a Columbian guy coming the other way. His English was broken but he basically said it was impassable. He had tried. "now what?" Back at the beach there was an information board that showed a gravel road that led to the estury at almost the exact point we needed to be – Perfect! Andre was also trying to get to the hut so we decided to quick march the gravel road route. Only problem was it was 8km further than the track. We only had 1 hour until low tide. 2 until the estuary was not crossable. We better get walking then! It was getting dark too and there was no way I was wading through 100m of waist deep ice cold water in the dark! Fortunatly for us the German gils were only day tripping. Tortuanui is the only beach in the NP accesable by (gravel) road. They were heading back to Takaka and offerd to give us a lift half of the way we needed to. Phew! So we made it to the crossing in time and navigated our way across the huge mud flats avoiding too many area of quick sand and got to the river. Thanks to our lift we managed to only get wet up to our knees so It was boots off and wade. It took about 10 mins to cross and it was pretty chilly! Fortunatly the hut was only a few hundred metres away and we made it just as twilight left the sky. I lit my candles (for light) and the wood burner and settled in to make some pasta! The hut sleeps 24 but it was just us 2 this night. Andre crashed out beside the fire (that had failed to get really going due to soaked wood) and I settled into my sleeping back in one of the bunks to read my book. I had set my alarm for 0530 and made it my aim to be walking by 0600. The reason for this was that there was a 2nd tidal crossing that needed to be crossed within 3hrs of low water. It was a 90mins walk from the hut and low tide was at 0500. Andre was waiting till the afternoon low tide as he only needed to get to the next hut 9.5km away. I was aiming for one further on at 22km away.
I awoke brightly and hurried my things together and put on all my warm gear and headed out into the night. Sunrise was at 0728 and I made it my goal to make the crossing by that time. It was a moonless night so my head torch shone the way – scaring the odd rabbit and possum. Navigating off the beach was pretty tricky. Trying to find a small path through bush was like trying to find a needle in a hay stack (excuse the cliche). This lost me a bit of time, but I soon made it to the track and steamed off. This crossing was much smaller but I still had to remove my boots – which were still wet.I sat on the deserted beach and ate a muffin as the sun rose over the headland and gradually illuminated the whole bay. It was pretty special. I was at Bark Bay hut (where Andre would be staying) before 0900. This hut had a great location and I had my second breakfast on its steps looking out to sea. On the 12 or so kilometers left to go I passed few people at all, except some workers on the track blowing up some rocks with explosives! I passed through dense sub-tropical bush and wide open beaches only accessable by foot or kayak. I got into a rhythm and by 1330 I was at the Anchorage hut and in need of a sit down! This beach is popular with day trippers as its only an easy 4hr walk back to Marahau so during the day there were a few people getting dropped off or being picked up by water taxi during the afternoon but before long the immaculate beach was deserted except 4 of us staying in the hut. The weather had been perfect all day so we huddeled around the LPG heater and got to know each other when the sun went down. There was a Belgium bloke and a couple from Spain. We chatted away until the candles ran out and went off to bed.

My boots had finally dried out but my feet were looking a sorry site with a few blisters and loads of sandfly bites! Despite this I quickly despatched the final, beautiful 11.5km and was back at my car by 1130 and off to grab a shower in Motueka. That afternoon I headed off to Golden Bay in the North West of the South Island. It's known for its arty hippies that have inhabited the area. There is only one road in and out of the region which goes over a steep, winding mountain pass – Takaka Hill 800m, There are some supurb views from the top! Dropping down into Takaka valley you get a good feeling of isolation as the whole bay is hemmed in by mountains on 3 of its sides and the ocean on the other. I stopped in Takaka town and decided to use this as my base to explore the area from. Ths is a really cool little town with a very chilled out atmosphere. Lots of little art and craft shops and organic cafe's line the towns only street and colourful murals adorn walls that should be covered with graffiti. Everyone seems to be riding around on bikes and not many people are getting fuel out of the tired looking BP garage. 'The Quiet Revolution' bike shop is busy refurbishing old bikes to sell on cheaply to the kids of the bay. Back in my hostel, the YHA-affiliated 'Annie's Nirvarna Lodge', I flopped into an arm chair and planned my few days here.
After a good nights sleep I decied to head East from town along the Abel Tasman drive. First stop was brunch in a little cafe followed by a walk around 'The Grove' – a prehistoric amalagmation of limestone formation and jungle. I then went to a salmon smokery and a walk to the Pupu Springs – Australasia's largest fresh water springs. The water is so clear that you can see for 1km through it. An observation deck had been set up with a reverse periscope to reitterate this point. As it I hadn't done enough walking I then went to the Pupu Hydro walkway. A 3 hour walk around a 100 year old hydroelectric station that is still in operation today. It was really cool, with a massivly long water-race with cray-fish in! Half way around I was approached by an elderly man whelding and hammer. I wasnt sure what to think at first – should I be scared? It turned out that he was one of the people involved in keeping the project running. We had a good long chat and he told me a lot about its history which was most interesting. I got back to my car just before dusk and headed back to Annie's where I played a game of Risk with two Scottish sisters.
I left Annies pretty early this morning and drove the 50km to the base of Farewell Spit – a huge sand spit that sits at the far North Western corner of the South Island. It is a haven for wading birdlife, but there is not much else there except for a lighthouse right on the very end. From here, my plan was to get as close as possible to Karamea. A small village that only layed 100km or so from this point at the top of the West coast, but no direct road meant I would have to drive for 6hrs the long way round to get there. I knew I wouldnt make it in one day, but wasnt sure where I would spend the night so I filled the tank and headed off back over Takaka hill and beyond, leaving the superb Golden Bay behind. I stopped at a few places along the way including the longest swingbridge in NZ across the Buller gorge. I paid $5 for the priveledge of walking across it and back. Im not sure if it was there for a reason, or like a lot of things in NZ, just because. I made it to Westport on the West coast, 100km south of Karamea. Its a pretty dead town with nothing of interest here, im staying in a hostel with (to my disgust) a coach load of Brits on 'The Kiwi Experience' a package coach trip that plagues this country. I wont get into my reasons for disliking this operation but I will say it reminds me of being back in the union at university on freshers week. There were no dorm beds left so im in a Twin room on my own, so at least i should get a reasonable nights kip!

Motueka

I arrived in Motueka yesterday after leaving Nelosn in the afternoon. I bit the bullet and purchased some boots and gaiters in the morning as I feel that if i missed out on some of these great walks, I would miss out on a big chunk of what NZ has to offer. Following that I went straight into the i-site (tourist info) in Motueka and booked myself onto the Abel Tasman Coastal walk. This involved checking out tide times and buying a bed in the huts for the nights I would be on the trail. Also I booked the water taxi to take me to the northern end of the walk so I would walk North to South. This is billed as a 3-5 day walk, but at only 51km I should be able to do it in 2 days. However there are certain tidal river crossings that have to be made at low water which determines quite a bit!

Im staying in the Laughing Kiwi hostel which is in the centre of town. I spent the afternoon wandering around town and breaking in the new boots. Since it was friday, i treated myself to Fish+Chips!

Had a lie-in this morning and spent the day preping for the trip. I leave tomorrow. My water taxi is at 1.30pm to get me to the start of the walk by 3.15pm. The rain has started again but should shift by the time im in the taxi! Some parts of Nelson are still without water and power from the last storm! I went to the waterfront and photographed an old wreck which lay about 20ft from the shore. Time to have a muffin and a cup of tea I think!