The catch-up post

I've not managed to post for a few days and as a result my activities have piled up behind me. Here's what I hope will be a brief description of what I've been up to.

Leaving Kaikoura, we drove up the coast for about 20 minutes to the much larger Mt. Hope seal colony. Although we were a bit far away from our vantage point above them and along the road, seeing them was still a fantastic experience. Seals were lounging everywhere on the rocks which form this part of the rugged coastline. My favorite part, however, were the groups of juvenile seals (probably last year's batch of pups). They tended to chase each other through the waves or wrestle in small pools formed by depressions in the rock. Because there was at least one adult seal watching them, it seemed like she had drawn kiddy pool duty for that day!!

From Kaikoura we headed up to Picton to bring people to and from the ferry to the North Island and Wellington. The bus then headed through the Marlborough region, home to NZ's largest concentration of winemakers. We stopped at a vineyard for wine tasting... how did I wind up being the only person to buy any wine? Hmmm...

I had the time and so decided to stop for a day in Nelson, billed as the sunniest city on the South Island. It also happens to house a large arts and crafts community, so I knew this would be a dangerous place to stop!! I wound up getting off the bus with a nice Dutch girl named Maaike, and we found a small charming hostel called Accents on the Park. I didn't even care that I once again had a top bunk, since the beds proved to be so comfortable.

I spent the next afternoon on a wine and brewery tour of the Nelson region. There were only 11 of us in the shuttle, and our guide, Marion, was really a hoot. The best wine we tasted was a noble rot Riesling, a dessert wine made from grapes naturally infected with the botyrus fungus. It was exquisite, but also $50, so alas I didn't buy a bottle. The brewery at the end was also a great time. They have something like 20 different beers on tap, and we could sample as many as we wanted. I wound up taking home a 2 liter bottle of "Wobbly Boot", a very nice porter-style brew. You'll be happy to know that Worthington's also brewed the official beer used in Lord of the Rings. For pete's sake!!

I had until 3 pm the next day before being picked up by the bus, and used that time to go on an arts tour of the town. Such a bad idea... I loved everything. There are weavers, knitters, potters, felters, woodturners, leather artists, glass blowers, and jewelers. Did I mention the jewelers? On the plus side, I've pretty much done all of mom's birthday shopping for her. If pottery weren't so expensive to ship home, I would have had a field day.

I got on the bus and we arrived in the dark and rain to Abel Tasman National Park, a coastal enclave in the northwest corner of the south island. We were staying on a farm, and I had an adorable little 3 bed hut all to myself. I planned to do a combination hike and sail the next day, which would also involve seeing another seal colony.