Arrival on the South Island and Nelson

The day began with a shuttle bus to the ferry terminal. We loaded our luggage much as you would do for a flight and boarded the ferry which would take us across the Cook Straits to the South Island of NZ. The journey was to last 3 hours and it was a bright, sunny day so it promised to be a pleasant crossing. The first part of the journey was nice but it wasnt until we got close to the South Island that it became spectacular. I had been told a few times that the North Island was almost ugly compared to the South and I began to see what they were getting on about. As we sailed through the straits that would lead us to the town of Picton I almost felt like I was back in Ha Long Bay. Surrounded on both sides by green, forested mountains and headlands it is a truly picturesque journey. We passed little bays and inlets along the way and even saw little isolated dwellings from which the only transport to civilisation could be boat. My mood and health were quickly improving by the time we landed. It was an effortless process to collect my baggage and hop on the waiting Magic Bus. From there it was a straight trip to Nelson where I would be staying for the next two nights. The scenery along the way was as breathtaking as that on the approach to the S. Island and I was quickly falling in love with the place. By the time we reached Nelson it was evening so barring a quick trip by a few of us off the bus to the supermarket it was a quiet night in. On the boat I began hearing about the earthquake which had hit Christchurch during the previous night and done so much damage, I didnt know anything about it till I saw a tv screen with news about it!

What most people do when they get to Nelson is take a trip to Abel Tazman National Park. I decided against this as I was just starting to recover from the flu and I was more focused on my hike on the FranzJosef glacier in a few days time. I wanted to be in good health for that. That said I did go for a short walk to the “Centre of NZ” which is the top of a hill on the outskirts of town. A brisk 30 minute walk took me to this nice viewpoint and I sat there and enjoyed both the sunshine and the view for a while. After a bit I decided to continue my walking and took another little walk which brought me over some hills to another part of town. All in all I was walking for a couple of hours and got back to the hostel in the early afternoon. Nothing too challenging but it fit the bill nicely. I spent the rest of the day relaxing in the hostel, doing some reading and writing and in the evening I followed this up by taking full advantage of the free hot spa and sauna provided by the hostel. It was an excellent way to finish off a good day. Also in the hostel I met a number of people who would be on the same Magic Bus as me in the morning so there would be a good gang of us for the next leg of the journey!