Start of South island is going well so far!

We are in a small-ish town called Nelson, staying at a another YHA which is spot on.

On the first day we got here there was coincidently the Arts festival on in town (only held once a year), which included a masked parade and carnival afterwards. The masked parade was full of young kids, but the carnival was OK because there was lots of people around, street food stalls, some small rides etc. We ate at a great restaurant called Cafe Affair, which had basil pesto pita & coriander hummus to die for :) The mains were cool too - we had to basically cook our kebabs to our liking on a stone sizzling plate. We didn't read the menu properly so weren't really expecting to cook our food but definitely a unique experience..

We went to Abel Tasman National Park today; It's known as a one of the most scenic National Parks with its golden beaches, native bush walks and alike. The weather was OK, but a bit cloudy. From a place from Kaiteriteri (the base of the park), we took a boat up a certain part of the coast and then walked from Torrent Bay to Bark Bay (2hrs), which is known as the most beautiful part of the track according to locals. It was comfortable walking, no Tongariro Crossing.. ;-) There is an option to do the full 3-5 day track of the whole of Abel Tasman which would be So amazing in the summer, but considering the weather is just 'OK' we decided it wouldn't be worth it in this season.

So after a short but sweet stay in Nelson, it's time to head off again tomorrow morning. Have to wake up at 6:30am - Ugh. We're going to Punaikaki, which is about 5hrs west of here. It may seem like a big jump, but we checked out other places closer to Nelson but they sounded shit to be honest! Let's hope we've made the right move :)

I have tried to upload the Abel Tasman photos in the past hour, but no suprises it doesn't work. You'd think somewhere like NZ would be good for fast connections.. I promise it's not just me being lazy!