to South Island

On Saturday, I took the early morning ferry from Wellington to Picton on the South Island, with the most stunning scenery through the Marlborough Sounds.

I arrived in Nelson at lunchtime and my host, Patrick, from the Nelson Tramping Club took me on a walk through the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary nearby.  Patrick is one of a number of volunteers who give up their spare time to help run the 715 ha reserve which aims to restore the area to native flora and fauna.  Patrick is one of the "track builders" and we followed one of the tracks soon to be opened to the public.  It is a stunning site and a credit to the volunteers who manage and monitor the site.  A website www.brooksanctuary.org gives lots more information.

On Sunday, Patrick and I met up with David Blunt, another member of the club, and we climbed Winter Peak (1750 m, 5740 ft) next to Mount Arthur in the Kahurangi National Park.  We climbed over 2000ft and did a total of around 15km.  Time and a lot of snow near the top of Mt Arthur were the only reasons we didn't do the latter!

David and I at the start:

View:

At the top:

Resident weka at Mt Arthur Hut

Today (Monday), I drove to Kaikoura for a couple of days' sightseeing.  The temperature has been about 24 degrees and the sea a fabulous colour.  I had a swim in the 33m outdoor pool:

and then had a walk along the beach and a track along the cliffs to see the seals and bird colonies.