Monday, November 28, 2016

Our last days in NZ- Nelson/Abel Taseman and Auckland

Morning started with a short flight from Christchurch to Nelson. Short meaning 45 minutes! We got our rental car from the wonderfully named rent-a-dent. No, there is nothing wrong with the car. Since we couldn't check in until 2pm and it was 10am  we decided to head to the isite. We got some maps and some brunch recommendations. We at lunch at a river cafe that had the best scones we've had in nz. It also had views of the river and we did some high quality people watching as plenty of people were walking or biking. After, We walked along the stream that runs through Nelson for about an hour. Then we walked up the bustling Main Street to the Nelson cathedral.  Did you know why certain churches are called cathedrals? It is because there is a special seat for the bishop to sit and "reside"  It had some beautiful stain glass windows as well as a mini pilgrimage labyrinth inside. From there we checked in and drove up to Abel Taseman Costal track. Now we had booked a kayak and hiking tour for the next day but the weather was looking shady and we wanted to go up and take a few photos in case it was raining we wouldn't want to take our dslr. It was overcast and muggy but still pretty! We only had time to walk in about 45 minutes then turn around, but still great. It was a bush track but you kept getting peaks of the blue waters and beaches. There were plenty of the birds I love to watch to entertain as well. By the time we got back to the hotel it was late. Evening was low key with roaster chicken, yoga, packing,  backing up photos and blogging. We are/we're crossing our fingers that the weather doesn't cancel our tour tomorrow!!  
Walking riverside in Nelson
   
Photos from the cathedral. Note the stained glass has New Zealand ferns and Kowhai flowers that have fan tails and tuis on them to the left.
   
Abel Taseman selfie!!
   
Photos from our walk on the tiny bit of the Abel Taseman costal track
   
Photo of the wildlife and flora around the track.
 
Today started early for what became no reason. There was a pretty bad storm that came through. Therefore, we got up at 6:30 to find out that our kayaking and hiking tour was moved until the next day. I had planned an open day just in case that happened, but it was still a disappointment. Instead we had a dreary rainy day with time on our hands. We spent the morning doing a workout in the hotel room and calling family (it was thanksgiving in the states). After that we headed to Jester's house cafe which is known for its "tame eels".  We got some brunch, which was pretty good, and then braved the rain with a small container of meat to feed the eels.  
 
 The eels were at the bottom of the scariest wet stairs ever, but worth it. They were all gathered, waiting. You basically put a bit of meat onto a stick and they reached up for it! The hardest part was a toss up between keeping the cafe cat from stealing the meat and trying to get then meat into the mouth of the eel (they don't see well). We didn't linger as it was quite rainy!! In fact the entrance to the parking lot was flooded over when we drove in! See Karen feeding them here: https://youtu.be/c5XyoEYTxvk and cecil making a great face feeding term here: https://youtu.be/56WwsuO-RW4.  
 
Cec feeding the eels!!
 
Close up of Karen feeding the eels.
 
R is the flooded entrance, UR is Cec fending off the cat feeding the eels, BL is the warning sign before the stairs to the eels.
 
 
From there we drove into Nelson and went to the world of wearable art and classic car museum. No, I don't know how those two fit but it was an interesting place. The cars were old and classic but the wearable art was something else. It was turkey art but they also had videos of it all being worn during performances. It reminded us of Circ de soile in Vegas. It was surprisingly entertaining. As a bonus, we got a drink at the Spieghts bar next door after  getting done in the museum. 
 
UR an example of the cars- the model T, UR the sign BL speits sign BR the wearable art displays
 
Just a few of our favorite wearable art pieces
 
Takin a noontime glass at speights
 
 
From there we headed downtown to the post office and to the local museum. The museum was disappointing, mostly having a hodgepodge of items that didn't really tell a story. We moved out of there after a short time and decided to head back to the hotel after getting some stuff from the grocery store. We planned a relaxing day as we were both a little tired and it would be early again. Originally, most of the stuff from last week was not supposed to happen it was supposed to be a rest day… we are bad at that. Since we've been running so much a night in before a crazy busy day seemed prudent.  
   
Upper: Bark Bay. BL: split apple rock BR: Another view of Bark Bay
     
UL: Bark Bay UR: Karen in front of Cleopatra's Pool. LL: Anchorage Bay  LR: Torrent Bay
     
Some of the amazing views from Abel Tasman Track
       
Anchorage Bay Pictures
  So the flight in from Nelson was a little bumpy but uneventful. We spent the afternoon walking into town to reverify the cell phone disconnection information. We hit the grocery store and spent the rest of the evening washing clothes and watching the free movies in the hotel. They actually were pretty new like suicide squad and mission impossible. The next day we got up and headed to Kiwibank for what we thought would be an easy appointment to transfer money and close are account. This we thought we had everything prepared for but it ended up being a slight crazy time. We finally got helped out but it was a little crazy for a while and took over an hour. After that it was back to boring with more laundry, Cecils haircut, retesting luggage weight and movies.    
Goodbye New Zealand
   

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