Traveling from Picton to Nelson and Nelson

So we left Picton on Sunday 9 November and head for Nelson. We stopped at Cullen's Point to do a short one hour walk along the coast of the point. Again, New Zealand is never what I expect it to be. I expected this to be like the other penisula we hiked, which was flat. Instead it is down a steep inlcine, and a traverse, slightly upwards back up and around the penisula to where we parked the vanette. It is a cool and cloudy day, but not cold like it has been. I can hike in my t-shirt and not feel cold.

The little track starts out rather disapointing after yesterday's spectacular hike, but it gets better and better as we go around the point. Also, I am able to get a picture of the beetle's anus -- the hairs coming out of a tree.

I am also happy with the breakthough in the pool and the rush of the end of yesterday's hike as it helps me get through this hike. Tomorrow, monday, i will track down a chiropractor in Nelson and get my hip knocked back in place.

So the "book" Lonely Planet -- the ultimate guide book says that you can do one island or the other in two weeks, and the whole country in a month if you are rushed. They recommend 4 weeks for each island though to get the feel. What i have realized is that I could spend two weeks just in the Marlborough Sound, and probably at least a month in Nelson and still have things to do. And I still have not seen the west coast, the southern alps, and fjordland. All places that I want to see. So I realize that to do NZ right, you need like 4 - 6 months, really.

At anyrate, we arrive at Nelson and check out the DOC office to see what we can do in our two days in Abel Tasman, Kahurangi and Nelson Lakes Park. They confirm my suspicions that you need about a month at least to look at these places in anything remotely like detail, so I knock Abel Tasman off the list, and we plan for two hikes one in Karangahui and the other in Nelson Lakes. This trip will have to be a taste of New Zealand, and I resign myself to that without trying to do it all too fast.

Monday is the windy and rainy day that was forecast, so I spend the day getting the blog up and running, finding my outstanding (as it turns out) Chiropractor, thank you Dr. Sally Dawson, and I get all my photos up on the picasa site. We are off to spend the night closer to the start of tomorrow's planned mountain top hike, and I pray the weather breaks like it is supposed to do for the next two days of walking around New Zealand Mountains.

Nelson, I wont forget you, you are a very cool city of 85,000 (again it feels like a city and not a town), and if you are ever here on a budget stay at Tasman Bay Backpackers -- it is the best!

Until Next Time,

Newo Out