where the whales make free in the harbour

We crosses the Cook Strait and made it to the South Island today. The crossing was great, a couple hours and some fantastic views of the land coming into Picton.

From Picton we hopped on a bus to Nelson, known as "The sunniest city in New Zealand". It has been raining and pouring non stop since we arrived, the sun seems to be nothing more then a rumour and the advertisement is apparently a cruel joke played on unsuspecting overseas visitors.

We have booked our next three nights accommodation on the Abel Tasman Coastal track. We take a bus to the start of the track at 7:30am tomorrow morning and then begin our walk. We could probably do it in two nights were it not for the tidal crossings. There are two sections of the track that must be crossed only within an hour or two of low tide so that will put limits on our progress. Less walking days however give us more time to explore the side tracks including a natural pool with a slippery rock waterfall and a seal colony in Mutton Cove on our final night. After we come out of the track we are going to walk a few clicks to the road and try to hitch our way towards Tikaka and the Heaphy Track, the next Great Walk.

Tonight we are booked into "The Shortbread Cottage" backpackers in Nelson. It was pouring rain but we came in to find hardwood floors, a cozy kitchen, a little living room with a wood stove burning and shortbread cookies on our pillows. The owner is a nice older lady who has offered to post our postcards and letters for us if we can't make it to a post office today. Apparently there is also a dog who is asleep somewhere. Its a great little place, has a really cozy home feel to it and is very close to our early bus stop. Its also right across the street from the Rugby Pitch where some of the World Cup games will be played next year.

Not sure when internet will be available again, at least 4 or 5 days so I'll let you know how the trek went and hopefully figure out how to post some pictures.