Day 4: Picton to Nelson

It was a shame to leave Picton this morning. Robbie and Sandra at Jasmine Court (the place we stayed at) were super friendly and helpful, and there was still heaps to see around Picton that we never got around to.

So we left Picton (reluctantly, though I think that's going to be a recurring theme on this trip) and made our way to Nelson today. It was about 115km, but took a bit over 2 hours - the roads are winding and we stopped a few times for photos. As we were coming out of Picton onto Queen Charlotte Drive, we picked up a german backpacker named Sophie. She'd been backpacking for a few years, but pleasantly, she didn't smell like it. She told us to avoid Europe because the people are pigs, and kept telling us how lovely us Australians and Kiwis are. She was also HOT, which I'm sure will cause more envy among some of my friends than the holiday.

After we dropped her off at some place (forgotten the name) we went on to a little town called Havelock, and more of the spectacular views.

Havelock as viewed from the lookout.

Full Sized Panorama: CLICK ME

The entire trip to Nelson could have taken us days. Every few minutes was a new amazing view, mostly what I imagine I'd see if Canada and England got a bottle of wine, some candle-light, then got hot and sweaty and had rolling-countryside babies. I drove past a billion photo opportunities, but the entire trip is going to be like that and all the stop-starting gets a bit tiring after a while. Suffice to say, you could drop a house pretty much anywhere and I'd happily live there forever.

 

Some cows because it just feels right.

Past Havelock we soon came to winding roads again, and instead of the Sounds we had cliffs and waterfalls and alpine-like rocky rivers.

A short stop

 And then suddenly we came out of the mountains back onto the coast, and glowing in the distance were snow capped peaks. We stopped the car to take photos. Might seem inane, but it's the first time either of us has seen snowy mountains, and it was beautiful. The photo makes it look like you can barely see the mountains, but the view was amazing.

Heath kindly pointing out the tiny little mountain

Nelson itself feels a lot like Coffs Harbor, very peaceful and relaxing. The hotel we're staying in - Apartments Paradiso - is great. Free internet and the main part of the complex is a backpacker hostel. There's a great vibe - lot's of people chilling out by the pool and drinking beer/wine. We're tempted to stay two nights it's so good, but we've covered 115km in our 40,000,000km trip (or what seems like it) and we're already 4 days in, so we'll be off in the morning.

For now, we're heading out to do the Center of New Zealand climb, just before sunset. Should be nice, though seriously, WTF with all the WALKING?