Last weekend marked the last public holiday--the Queen's birthday--in New Zealand until October. It wasn't the Queen's actual birthday and, as far as I can tell, there are no fancy hat parties or royal teas to celebrate. Regardless, we took advantage of the long weekend and headed down to Nelson to visit our friend Robyn, her ponies, and her pooches. It also allowed us to escape another rainy weekend in Auckland for the sunniest place in NZ.
We arrived in Nelson a few hours before Robyn returned from a work trip. We grabbed her car from the parking lot and headed into Nelson to see a few sites. Our first stop was the Centre of New Zealand, a lovely walk to a lookout over the town. Nelson isn't the geographic center of NZ, but it was the central survey point used to map the country. Nelson is the central land district and the zero-zero point for the district is located at the top of Botanical Hill where the landmark is located. Regardless of whether is the true center or not, the view is spectacular!
We arrived in Nelson a few hours before Robyn returned from a work trip. We grabbed her car from the parking lot and headed into Nelson to see a few sites. Our first stop was the Centre of New Zealand, a lovely walk to a lookout over the town. Nelson isn't the geographic center of NZ, but it was the central survey point used to map the country. Nelson is the central land district and the zero-zero point for the district is located at the top of Botanical Hill where the landmark is located. Regardless of whether is the true center or not, the view is spectacular!
Pete standing on the center point
the view over Nelson town and Tasman Bay
Our next stop was the Boulder Bank, a natural feature along the coastline that looks entirely manmade. The Boulder Bank is just as it sounds - a strip of boulders forming a barrier between land and sea. It looks like a jetty but was formed naturally by rocks falling from Mackay Bluffs that were swept southward by ocean currents over the last 10,000 years. The size of the rocks decreases as you walk southward along the 13 km spit because small rocks get transported longer distances than large rocks.
looking south along the boulder bank
When we were in Nelson in January on our Christmas trip, we had planned on heading over to Abel Tasman National Park to kayak or hike. The weather wasn't fantastic and Robyn's place is lovely, so we decided to skip the park. The weather on this trip was great so we headed west to the park for a hike in and water taxi out. We started our hike at Marahau and ended at Anchorage, about 12 kilometers away. I've kayaked in Abel Tasman a couple times on previous trips, so I really enjoyed getting the land perspective. We saw lots of wekas (native bird) and fungus, and had fabulous views of the coastline. The beaches in the area are a lovely golden color formed from decomposing granite that forms the surrounding hills.
Pete and the weka
Weka - another flightless NZ native bird (about the size of a pheasant)
the black sand was underneath and the golden sand formed a thin layer on top
happy trampers
If you ask Pete, the best part of the day came at the end of our boat ride back to Marahau. I knew what was coming but didn't want to spoil the surprise. As we were driving towards the beach I asked him if he saw the tractor. He was looking on land so didn't see it. It was right in front of us, in water to mid-wheel waiting for our arrival. The skipper drove the boat straight onto the trailer at a good clip and the tractor carried us out of the water, across the expansive sand flats, and through the town to the boat yard. The tidal range in this part of NZ is about 12 feet and the slope of the land is very shallow so it isn't possible to have a boat ramp. All boat launching and retrieval is done with tractors, which is pretty fun.
the tractor waiting for our arrival
on the trailer and getting driven across the sand flats
the tractors amazingly last about 10 years going in and out of the ocean
the expansive sand flats that make launch ramps impossible
We spent the rest of the weekend at Robyn's place planting trees, doing projects on the property, petting the ponies, and playing with the pooches. Rob had just gotten a new puppy a couple weeks earlier so we were in dog heaven. Kea loved Pete and gave him lots of cuddles whenever she had the chance.
Tui teaching Kea how to be a dog
the ponies waiting for dinner and cuddles
Tasman and Brownie (Brownie is famous - he and Huntsman,
the horse on the far left in the above photo, were both in the
Lord of the Rings movies with Robyn as the Riders of Rohan)
the horse on the far left in the above photo, were both in the
Lord of the Rings movies with Robyn as the Riders of Rohan)
We were sad to leave all the critters and Robyn to return to Auckland and work. We have really enjoyed our time in Auckland, but the Nelson area is spectacular and is much closer to our version of home. Maybe some day...
