Nelson and Westland

Nelson is a paradise for bush walkers, kayaking, boating and simply lying on the beach. We arranged to take a catamaran to Golden bay and the surrounding marine park but the trip was cancelled at the last minute due to a problem with the boat's motor. Back we went to the information office and quickly decided to drive to a town in the same area and take a boat from there instead. The first place we checked had a speedboat leaving within a matter of minutes so we hopped on board for a place called Bark Beach. It took 45 minutes to get there only. We then had a picnic lunch (consisting of bread, smoked salmon, cheeses, salad, fruit and a good bottle of local Pinot Noire) on the beach and spent the rest of our time simply enjoying the view and having a quick dip (the water was too cold to stay in any longer). Weather was hot (30C) and sunny. The boat ride back took 1.5 hours as we were on a much larger boat which was good since we had a better chance to see things. See photo below.