Nelson

I arrived in Nelson and the sun was shining, the leaves were turning gold and the boulevards were covered with artistic types selling paintings / jewellery / crafts / home made cookies. The leafy streets were lined with cafes which serve immaculate espressos and cappuccinos and generally Nelson exuded a "come live here" kind of feeling. To the north of Nelson is a lovely beach and all around the town are rolling forested hills.

I spent a day a two just wandering around, soaking up the atmosphere and generally enjoying myself. After this I decided it was time for some more hard work and physical punishment so I decided to walk the Abel Tasman Track (one of the 9 great NZ tracks).

So I packed my sleeping bag, bought some provisions and rocked up to the start of the track on a Saturday morning. It started off pissing rain but within an hour or two the sun came out and I was walking along deserted golden beaches. 7 hours and 2 estuary crossings (which I performed with only my underwear and a fleece on) later I arrived at Bark Bay hut only to find that there was no electricity, no cooking equipment and no cutlery. I was the only one there, so it was an early night after a delicious tin of cold baked bins and a banana. The next morning was also beautiful - sunny, warm and everything that a November day would not be back in Europe. 4 Hours of tramping and I was in the next hut by lunchtime (1 tin of cold spaghetti, consumed using a couple of Ritz crackers). This time another group arrived (One Tasmanian girl, a German guy and an English bloke, strange combo), they had torches and cooking equipment so my evening was saved. We were still in bed by 7pm which I think is my new official record since turning 18.

We had to get up at 6am the next morning to cross the final estuary, because it is impassable more that 2 hours either way of low tide and that bastard low tide had decided to be at 5am that day. 2pm that afternoon and we hiked along the last beach and arrived at the end of the track. 35km, two and a half days and it was absolutely sensational. Well worth it (even taking the cold baked beans into account).