The North of the South Island (January 5-6)

The rain that was predicted to take over the South Island came as expected Thursday morning.  It was lovely nonetheless to sit out on their verandah in the back of the house, reading, chatting, and enjoying coffee and tea served by our wonderful hosts. We enjoyed a beautiful breakfast of yogurt and those absolutely delicious boysenberries again. 

Roger and Jo live very close to Abel Tasman National Park and we had looked forward to days of exploring the area, but Jim’s sickness and the rain put a damper on those plans. But, the girls and I decided to go for it anyway — we knew it would be raining, but we really didn’t understand just how wet and muddy we were about to get. We stopped at the Park Cafe at the start of the Abel Tasman track to grab a bite. Our order didn’t get placed properly for a while so it took about an hour to get our food, but the pizza was delicious.

We headed out on our 7-mile hike to Apple Tree Beach — I can only imagine how beautiful it would have been on a sunny day, but it was still a great hike full of beautiful waterfalls. Jim would have loved it!  We made it to the beach and were soaking wet by the time we got back to the car. 

	(What it looks like on a good day)

Jo and Roger ordered fish and chips for dinner (we made Jim sit outside while we ate inside) and more ice cream and berries for dessert. Friday morning began the same way: conversation, tea and lattes, and a wonderful breakfast (sourdough with butter, jam, and smashed avocado followed by eggs and leftover potatoes this time) on the verandah. Roger and Jo are the consummate hosts!

It was still raining, so the girls and I went on a gallery tour to different local stores, starting with the Cool Store where we saw some lovely art. Then we went to a glass-blowing place and into town to a gallery where we found some beautiful wooden salt and pepper shakers for our hosts.

We spent the rest of the afternoon poking around the town of Nelson, starting with lunch at Hawker House (where they made a mistake about whether the bok choy was vegetarian, but came running out to tell us), followed by a book store where we got some newspaper to stick into our still sopping wet shoes from our hike and Greta and Vlad (recommended by Angie), and finally Mac Pac where Rachel got the world’s perfect sweater on sale. She loves it.

We made our way back to Roger’s so Rachel could finish her paper for Josh. Jo made another fabulous feast (chicken, pesto pasta, burnt rice, roasted veggies, salad) and we made Jim eat outside again.  Roger and Jo would probably allow him a lot more latitude than the girls and I do — we just really don’t want to get sick. 

Rachel played Roger’s guitar — we always miss the sound of her playing in the house. She learned a song Roger knew and he sang along — he has a beautiful voice. Then she played some of her original stuff and Roger brought out his bucket of percussion to jam with her. He even picked up a harmonica for the first time. So much fun!