The beautiful drive to Abel Tasman (19th Feb)

Today I am heading back up towards Picton and the Marlborough Sounds that I came through on the ferry a couple of days ago. There is a fantastic 36 km drive from Picton to Havelock winding along the wiggly Queen Charlotte Drive which gives a great perception of the Sounds and the views here are incredible. The only problem is that all the view points are on the other side of the road and each on a totally blind corner so you really do take you life in your hands at times, oh well, all in the name of award winning photos huh?!

My plan is to head for Abel Tasman National Park for a spot of walking and on the way I passed through Nelson where all the backpacker buses stop and then through Motueka where a lot of the car driving backpackers head for and then came to Marahau which is a tiny little village inside the National Park that the Lonely Planet describes as feeling more like a ‘loose affiliation of houses’ rather than a town or village. I have booked into Kanuka Ridge and as I head up a narrow country road I come across this fantastic little place with just a handful of lodge style buildings and lots of outside space and eating areas. It has a great feel to it and there’s a complete variety of people staying here, all ages and from many different countries which is interesting, you really meet a variety of different people travelling around.



Queen Charlotte Sounds





I’ve decided to head out early in the morning and get a water taxi to a spot around 16 km up the coast for the picturesque walk back. There is a severe weather warning for this area that I was warned about when I was in Kaikoura, for some reason though I seemed to have forgotten that when it came to booking the 8 am ferry!




I quite fancy this house (can you see it?!) that is what I call discreet.