Day 295 (Sat 28 Apr) - Nelson

By the time we got up the rain had mostly gone from the night before. Still a trifle damp as we drove off into the centre of Picton.

Whilst Jo went and done some shopping Sarb played round on the net.

Piled back into the van and drove the short distance to the ferry terminal. By now the rain was really coming down and we were a bit worried that Ruth and Keith would get soaked trying to get into the van. Decided that Jo would go to the terminal whilst Sarb was ready at the wheel, ready to whizz round once given the all clear.

A few minutes later Jo reappeared with Keith and a red hatted and gloved Ruth; all travelling at a fair turn of speed.

They all bundled in and after various shaking of hands and hello's we settled down and left the terminal. The van is set up so that two people have to sit, belted up, at the very back of the van whilst the driver and navigator sit up front. Seeing as the van was quite rattly and loud the only way we could converse was by shouting at each other.

Set off for Nelson on a small very steep road that hugged the coast. The weather had turned to rain, with a fair amount of wind thrown in but we still managed to get some great views of the sea and villages below us.

Halfway up we were stopped by a chap wearing a bright oilskin. He explained that a tree had falled across the road and they were busy clearing it off. He said that we should just be able to squeeze through a gap that they had made.

Set off and eased our whale of a van through the gap they had made. A couple of inches to spare on both sides!

Drove onto Havelock where we stopped and cooked up some soup.

Stopped in Nelson and did a big shop for food, loaded up the van then headed off to a campsite on Tahuna Beach.

Comfy place. Whilst Ruth and Keith got their gear sorted Sarb cooked up some more lamb and mint sausages (well they were so tasty).

Had a great evening catching up on their travels and also hearing about Nick and Kishani's wedding (Jo's cousin who got married in Sri Lanka a few weeks earlier).

We also discussed how we would like to spend the next few weeks. Ruth was in favour of going to a beach near Farewell Spit, in the North West, and then heading South. We all thought it might be a little too far out of our way. However Ruth was not giving up on heading up to the North West first (as she had heard that "it has one of the best beaches New Zealand") so we all gave in and plan to go there t'row first thing.