On Dec 6, after a few days of slurping our way through Marlborough, we took the long way around to Nelson, a city whose claim to fame is being the geographical center of New Zealand. Our "long way" took us on the Queen Charlotte Drive, hopeful for some glimpses out into the Marlborough Sounds. The drive was winding and pretty, but the weather wasn't the best for the look-out point vistas. It did, however, take us through the tiny coastal town of Havelock, where we stopped for their renowned green-lipped mussels.
Upon reaching Nelson and settling into our hostel, we tempted weather fate and took to our feet to find the famed (?) Center of New Zealand. We made our way through the sleepy town, then along a pretty little Matai River, and finally up a steep hill in a park where we found it!
Having apparently not had our fill of wine, we set out the next day to sample the Upper Moutere region's wines, which were sort-of on the way to Abel Tasman National Park. We had an enjoyable tasting and picnic lunch at Neudorf, followed by one of the more unusual tasting experiences we've had. We chose to visit a winery called Glovers, since our book advised that this eccentric winemaker preferred robust red wines, which are hard to come by on the south island. I thought his license plate was promising...
... and inside a little house we were met by a slightly ornery old man who offered us a glass of rose out of an unlabeled bottlle, saying "this is what I'm drinking, and if it's good enough for me, it's good enough for you!"
The rose wasn't good at all, and neither were some of his whites, but a couple red blends were curiously unobjectionable. By the time we were done we felt badly walking away without making a purchase, so we took a 2002 Syrah-dominant blend back to enjoy with our porterhouse at our hostel that night. Thankfully, we also found it to be unobjectionable at this point as well.
A little further up the road, we arrived at Abel Tasman National Park, home to one of the famous New Zealand walks, the Abel Tasman Coast Track which hooks along the Tasman Bay in the northwestern portion of the south island. The total track is about 51km (32 miles) long, to be completed over several days, but as we were starting out around 4:30 without any intention of staying the night, we got a taste for it by walking about 5.5km along to a pretty little camping spot called Apple Tree Bay. On our way back out of the park, the tide had receded and as the sun played through the clouds we were treated to some spectacular views.
As an odd aside, during our time driving around the Nelson/Richmond area, we gleaned that there is apparently a large market for livestock "poo," with bags of horse poo, donkey poo, and pony poo regularly advertised on hand-painted boards for $2 a pop.
Moving along... the two days that followed were less eventful - our primary objective being to get to Queenstown by Dec 9 in time to make final preparations for our big hike, scheduled to begin on the 10th. Our plans to do some en-route hiking in Nelson Lakes NP were foiled by the rain...
... which in the end was a good thing because the drive was a bigger undertaking than we expected, especially in the driving rain. We made it to our overnight destination on the West Coast, Hokitika, in the late afternoon. The sun came out on arrival, and we were able to enjoy our hostel room's private balcony that overlooked Tasman Sea.
And as planned on December 9, after a further 7 hours of driving via the Haast Pass, we arrived in Queenstown. We picked up our hut passes and shopped around the numerous outdoor adventure stores for last-minute hiking supplies: iodine tablets for our water, bowls and utensils, and a "billy" - a simple metal pot perfect for cooking more or less anything (in our case, we really only needed it to boil water for ramen noodles). We packed our backpacks with the things we'd need over the next few days, tossed everything else in our spare duffle bag, and did our best to rest up for the adventure ahead!
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| Steamed and fried! |
Upon reaching Nelson and settling into our hostel, we tempted weather fate and took to our feet to find the famed (?) Center of New Zealand. We made our way through the sleepy town, then along a pretty little Matai River, and finally up a steep hill in a park where we found it!
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| Jason at The Center |
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| Voila! |
Having apparently not had our fill of wine, we set out the next day to sample the Upper Moutere region's wines, which were sort-of on the way to Abel Tasman National Park. We had an enjoyable tasting and picnic lunch at Neudorf, followed by one of the more unusual tasting experiences we've had. We chose to visit a winery called Glovers, since our book advised that this eccentric winemaker preferred robust red wines, which are hard to come by on the south island. I thought his license plate was promising...
... and inside a little house we were met by a slightly ornery old man who offered us a glass of rose out of an unlabeled bottlle, saying "this is what I'm drinking, and if it's good enough for me, it's good enough for you!"
The rose wasn't good at all, and neither were some of his whites, but a couple red blends were curiously unobjectionable. By the time we were done we felt badly walking away without making a purchase, so we took a 2002 Syrah-dominant blend back to enjoy with our porterhouse at our hostel that night. Thankfully, we also found it to be unobjectionable at this point as well.
 |
| Jason with the winemaker, David Glover |
A little further up the road, we arrived at Abel Tasman National Park, home to one of the famous New Zealand walks, the Abel Tasman Coast Track which hooks along the Tasman Bay in the northwestern portion of the south island. The total track is about 51km (32 miles) long, to be completed over several days, but as we were starting out around 4:30 without any intention of staying the night, we got a taste for it by walking about 5.5km along to a pretty little camping spot called Apple Tree Bay. On our way back out of the park, the tide had receded and as the sun played through the clouds we were treated to some spectacular views.
 |
| Abel Tasman NP |
As an odd aside, during our time driving around the Nelson/Richmond area, we gleaned that there is apparently a large market for livestock "poo," with bags of horse poo, donkey poo, and pony poo regularly advertised on hand-painted boards for $2 a pop.
Moving along... the two days that followed were less eventful - our primary objective being to get to Queenstown by Dec 9 in time to make final preparations for our big hike, scheduled to begin on the 10th. Our plans to do some en-route hiking in Nelson Lakes NP were foiled by the rain...
 |
| Drizzly day at Lake Rototiti |
... which in the end was a good thing because the drive was a bigger undertaking than we expected, especially in the driving rain. We made it to our overnight destination on the West Coast, Hokitika, in the late afternoon. The sun came out on arrival, and we were able to enjoy our hostel room's private balcony that overlooked Tasman Sea.
 |
| Jason on the shore of Hokitika |
And as planned on December 9, after a further 7 hours of driving via the Haast Pass, we arrived in Queenstown. We picked up our hut passes and shopped around the numerous outdoor adventure stores for last-minute hiking supplies: iodine tablets for our water, bowls and utensils, and a "billy" - a simple metal pot perfect for cooking more or less anything (in our case, we really only needed it to boil water for ramen noodles). We packed our backpacks with the things we'd need over the next few days, tossed everything else in our spare duffle bag, and did our best to rest up for the adventure ahead!
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