Days #11 & 12. Nelson/Abel Tasman.

I was the victim of a theft this morning.  It was heartbreaking.  Someone stole my giant hothouse cucumber.  That's right.  They were picky little buggers too.  They snubbed the half loaf of bread, half used peanut butter, and almost gone jam.  But they took my danged cucumber!!!  Part of me wishes they had swiped the PB&J instead.  I'm sick of it anyways.  Ate it for 6 days in a row.  But I was so looking forward to that cucumber :(

Yesterday was spent mainly in transit from point A to point B.  It took over 3 hours to cross from the North to the South island via ferry.  Then it was another 4 hours or so bus ride to the lovely city of Nelson.  I am staying in a "resort hostel" called Paradiso.  It has a swimming pool, sand vball court, hot tub, glass enclosed kitchen with all the latest appliances, and a big green bus that people go and chill on.  They also serve free veggie soup every night, free bfast every morning, and have free wifi.  It really is a fantastic hostel.  I got my own room for two nights… wanted to get some sleep for once.  Yesterday evening I got a vball game going.  We had a rousing 4 on 4!!  Was loads of fun!

This morning I woke up super early.. 6 am.  Ate my free breakfast of muesli and sliced banana, then got on the shuttle bus for the 1 1/2 hour ride to Abel Tasman National Park.  I had signed up for an all-day kayak adventure around the park, beaches, and islands.  There were about 5 others in the group, including this really cute, sweet girl from UK named Emma.  She's 25 y.o. and has been away from home for a year.  She worked in Australia for 6 months -- 3 as an accountant, and 3 on a working veggie farm.  Now she's just traveling for fun.  I asked her what possessed her to take over a year off by herself??  She said, boredom.  The kayaks were all 2-man, so she and I paired up.  Our guide's name was Robin, a really petite outdoorsy girl who had a great tan and a ponytail.  She's from Wellington but has been working here in Nelson as a tour guide over the summer.  We started paddling early.  Again, the weather was absolutely GORGEOUS!!!  One of the prettiest days I've spent in New Zealand so far, actually.  Crystal clear bright blue sky, see-through aqua ocean water, glistening white sand beaches.  I just couldn't take enough in.  It was stunning.  Now I see why this park is so famous.  We stopped at one of the beaches for a snack of chocolate chip cookies and fruit juice.  Saw a sleek white bird plummet from the sky and dive into the water.  Then we paddled around some other beaches before stopping for lunch.  Our picnic lunch was included in the package and came from a local bakery.  We got 2 sub sandwiches each, stuffed to overflowing with cheese, egg, and veggies (and turkey for everyone but me :)  In addition to that we had spinach and goat cheese quiches which were mouthwateringly delicious.  Then chocolate slices for dessert!  In New Zealand they serve a lot of dessert "slices" -- caramel slices, coconut slices, chocolate slices.  They're basically gooey filling sandwiched between cake and topped with frosting.  Extremely sweet.  I could only eat a few bites (and if I couldn't even finish it you know it was sweet!)

After lunch we paddled over to Adelaide Island.  This island was cleared of all predators years ago, and now it is strictly a bird sanctuary.  Back in the day when Captain Cook was running around exploring, he discovered this island and wrote that the birds were so loud he had to park his boat a km off d/t their excruciatingly loud singing.  Today the birds are almost as loud, you should have heard 'em!  My mom would have gone crazy on this island.  She is a bird lover in the extreme.  When I was paddling around, I could see visions of her in my head with her binoculars and tape recorder.  Ohhh mother…. I miss you :)

On our way back to the main park we saw a few seals.  I still think seals and otters are some of the cutest animals on the planet!!  They were twirling around in the water and waving at us with their darling little flippers.  Emma and I had been having problems with our kayak for a while.  She started off steering, but was doing a horrible job of it, and I kept thinking how much better of a job I would do.  Then we switched and I tried my hand at it.  We zig-zagged all over creation, hitting other kayaks and having a terrible time.  Was way harder than I thought!  But by the last half of the afternoon we were pro's.  We started power paddling.  I was imagining I was on the olympic rowing team… and I could see the finish line in the distance… currently 1st place… gotta push, push, row, row, go, Go! "HEATHER AND EMMA!!!!" Robin's voice screeched from a distance.  "Stay with the group!!"

Tonight they are having a Valentine's Day thing at the hostel.  I thought about going, but now I'm just so bummed over my missing cucumber that I'm considering just going to bed.  Ok, ok… I'm really not that upset anymore.  Just being dramatic :)  Love you all!!!  Goodnight!

Plan:  Head over to Greymouth in the am. Who knows what's over there, will read my travel book on the way over.

Budget yesterday:  $55 ferry, $3 shuttle, $60 hostel (my own room for once!! YAY!), $20 produce

Budget today:  $140 all day kayaking trip including transport and lunch, $60 hostel