On the beautiful South Island

It feels like a long time, but I have arrived only less then a week
ago on New Zealand's South Island.

If you followed my tweets on http://twitter.com/eddokloosterman you
would have seen that I followed the very scenic, beautiful Queen
Charlotte Drive from Picton to Havelock. It was a great road, though a
bit hilly heading from cliffs to bays & beaches continuously. From
Havelock it took me a day to get to Nelson over Rai Saddle and
Whangamoa Saddle, quite steep climbs, but the last one had a splendid
downhill!
This road is usually known, or infamous, for being used by a lot of
log trucks; as it was a sunday, I was lucky as I didn't see a single
truck :).

After Nelson I went up North to Marahau, the entrance to the Abel
Tasman National Park. Kayaking here is fairly expensive, and they
don't allow a single traveler to 'freedom kayak' on his own. So I
decided to hike a part of the Coastal track, with a water taxi
dropping me of at a beach in the morning and then walking back. It was
great fun, and the beaches are like you would expect them to be on a
tropical island, gold coloured sand and azur blue sea! Just stunning!

From now on I'll be heading west and south, following the Westcoast
of the South Island. Hope the weather will be a bit cooler, as it is
fairly warm to cycle here with 20C. I know, I shouldn't complain, it's
a lot colder back home in NL ;). But hills are pretty tough to climb
when it's hot..

@PioneerPeter: helaas nog geen Grolsch hier kunnen ontdekken in de
supermarkten, wel dat andere, bekende Nederlandse biermerk. Maar
lokale bier smaakt ook wel goed ;).
--
Mvg, Eddo