A day without being in a vehicle. Nelson by foot.

Our inn keeper went to the big farmers and artisan market at 7:30 am and we had fresh berries for our breakfast. We went a bit later to see the artisans and the whole market scene. Take the farmers market in Asheville (either one) multiply the size by 5 and that is at least the size of their market. Hard to shoot a good photo of it. Was in a good sized parking lot. 

We bought one coffee mug in this color pottery. Green inside and black outside with a really nice handle. We also bought a bag of plums and some delicious garlic salt. 

We went to a museum with a lot of history of Nelson. Very nicely done and reasonably priced entrance fee. 

Next we headed to south street pottery shop. Wow. Some of the potters we had seen the day before, some we saw at the market and some we hadn't seen at all yet. I wasn't sure about their policy of taking photos so I just snapped a few. 

All of New Zealand seems to be about walking. Walking paths everywhere. Well maintained almost no litter.

After all that we had coffee (organic fair trade ) and walked back to the inn to drop off our purchases. 

From there we walked to Queens garden. And also saw the Chinese garden. 

We then walked around down to the waterfront along the river that is near our inn. We stopped at the riverside restaurant for lunch. I had linguini with mussels, shrimp and squid. And of course a beer. Dana had fried squid and a salad. Mussel inn was recommended to us to eat at but we didn't make it so sampling their beer was the next best thing. 

We made it to the marina. Very pretty area. 

We ended up at another resaurant having some half glasses of beer and sharing half dozen fried bluff oysters. Bluff oysters are a regional specialty. 

Had a nice walk back and was greeted by the friendly door to the inn. All together about 7 1/4 miles of walking today. 

Since we had a really nice dinner last night and a good lunch today we are just having some wine we bought yesterday. Salami. Cheese crackers and fruit for supper tonight. This was a down day. Not as much activity as some of our other days but very pleasant and excellent weather. 

Pottery. Wine. Walking. Nelson NZ

If I haven't already enticed by blog readers to visit New Zealand then today's post should do it. 

Our day started our with a gourmet breakfast at our inn. Starting with fresh fruit and berries with homemade granola followed by eggs cooked with herbs she grows here.  And I have drunk so many pots of English breakfast tea this trip it is amazing. 

Here is a picture of where we are staying. 

Our adventures started with going to a master potter. Really wanted one of his bigger pieces but settled on a small one that would fit in my suitcase. Quite a big production pottery studio. They offered us a tour once I said I dabbled in pottery. Royce mcglashen pottery. They allowed me to take pictures

Our next stop was on a wharf to buy some smoked salmon and rolls at a bakery. 

Then onto a winery that allows you to picnic if you buy a glass of wine. We sampled a few ones, chose one to buy and picniced in a lovely setting. 

We proceeded onto some more potters. Katie gold made some fascinating pieces. All too large for us and not quite something I'd buy 

Her husband had functional pieces but nothing unique enough to bring home.  We then saw Anna Bartlett pottery. Very unique decorating on her wares. We just bought a small kiwi. 

Then it was time for more wine. We went to a super small winery where only 3 people could be inside at a time to taste with room on the deck for a few more.  Loads of fun 

Next we went to rabbit island for a walk on the beach. I understand the beach is 10km long. 

After returning to the inn We rested for a bit. Drank some more wine and then I decided I needed another walk before supper. Up the hill we went. Further up than expected. To the center of New Zealand. I was wrong yesterday. This is the north south center. Not the east west one. Gorgeous views from up top. 

We finished off the day with another wonderful meal at a top restaurant. I had red snapper. So delicious. Dana gphad venison. They raise red deer here in fairly large herds 

We are now sitting in the inn having decaf coffee. What a wonderful day. 

Adventures on the west coast.

We left our hotel relatively early out of Greymouth. We were sorry to leave our Orange themed room but we needed to get to Punakaki (pancake rocks) around high tide. 

For those of you that know thunder hole in Maine this was loads better as the tide was coming in. Plus there was a nice trail around which meant you could view from all different angles. A few pictures follow. 

We then went further north and walked along charming creek. We followed old coal mining tracks along the river. Some areas were more in tack than others. Beautiful walk with lots of birds, a few other hikers, and another part of their history. This track was abandoned around 1953. Coal is so much lighter than gold. 

George bear and I decided not to cross the swinging bridge. Dana went to the other side and saw a waterfall and some more relics. 

Our lunch was salami and cheese and fruit along the trail. Absolutely delightful. 

We had a long drive afterwards to our hotel in Nelson as going to charming creek was a bit out of our way.   Of course I couldn't get the wifi device to work when we needed it most on Nelson but using a paper map I was able to guide Dana there. We are in an old inn near a park which is at the exact center of new Zealand north to south. Five minute walk to a nice restaurant for supper. Total walking just under 7 miles 

George bear was glad to be in his wrought iron bed for the night. 

He is resting up for more adventures tomorrow. 

On our own. Rental car left hand driving.

We picked up a rental car in Christchurch at the airport and the first thing we had to do was to go around a traffic circle the wrong way!! Oh and the kind of good news is that we got a wifi hot spot from hertz rental car which was only a dollar more a day than getting a gps. Which means I no longer have to rely on slow hotel wifi systems but it also means I have wifi almost whenever I want it. Too tempting. 

Today we crossed the alps. 

Sure looks like we took a wrong turn to Switzerland but really we are still in New Zealand absolutely breathtaking. 

We did a small walk to castle rock hill

We stopped for lunch at arthurs pass. It was fine. Nothing special. But still have our fruit from the orchard visit. Gosh their fruit takes a long time to ripen. I am glad we are not returning this way as the road in narrow, windy, steep, and can be slow going in places. 

We did a much longer hike up to a waterfall but camera wifi and me are having another argument today and I do t have those photos to show you yet. The weather today has been gorgeous. Just a perfect day. 

We are now in a charming little hotel in the once booming town of Greymouth but it is nothing special now. We went to the grocery store and bought provisions for breakfast and lunch for tomorrow. And then went to the one thing that was worth doing in Greymouth. Monteiths brewery. We sampled some of their beers and ate some delicious tapas. We walked there and back because one it is a nice evening and two they are very strict about drinking and driving around here. All told we walked about 7 1/2 miles today and climbed the equivalent of 28 flights of stairs. 

Looks like I will be doing a lot more walking this trip. Maybe this will be the one vacation where I don't gain weight !!

Final day with our group tour.

Today we woke up still unable to see Mount Cook so we left an hour early for our trip to Christchurch. On the way here I managed to acquire my second merino wool/possum fir item. I wasn't going to buy much of anything on this trip except maybe a piece of pottery and a bottle of wine but that turned out not to be the case. 

By the way I am now hooked on having English breakfast tea with breakfast and then a soy cappuccino around 10 am. And all their cappuccinos have a sprinkling of chocolate on top. 

We got to see a statue of a dog for all the sheep herding dogs. There are millions and millions of sheep in this country. 

We then proceeded through not exceptionally interesting scenery today. Our first stop was at a lovely rose garden followed by a stop at the botanical gardens. Not sure if my brother in law Jim Smith has been to these gardens but the botanical garden is incredible with the number of species of plants from all over the world. Here is just a couple of my favorite shots from today. 

We drove around Christchurch and although the big earthquake was four years ago much of it is still not rebuilt. 

We checked into another incredible hotel. The George. Cleaned up and headed out to a home hosted dinner by Patsy and Keith. They actually own a company that has 23 or so families that hosts these dinners. Excellent food wine and company. Here are a couple photos of their gardens and the lovely couple. 

Ca,e back to the hotel and look who was waiting for us on the pilow

This is George bear and he is now in our special care. He even has his own Facebook page.   

Tomorrow we pick up a rental car and will drive from the east coast to the west coast through the alps at Arthur's pass. Then will spend almost 2 weeks on our own exploring the north part of the South Island. Should be interesting. I know one thing no more fancy hotels with heating floors in the bathroom like at the George. 

Don't pack a sad. Our day at Mount Cook.

What an awesome expression that they use here. Don't pack a sad really applied to today. After a long drive to mount cook from Clyde we arrived to a sacked in mountain. We could see about half of the mountain maybe. But no sad faces in our group. We checked out the visitors center, checked into our five star hotel rooms, and then proceeded to take some hikes. Some of the group went on a more strenuous hike than others. I did the five miler in a misty rain with one other lady. We had a great walk and talk. And I managed to introduce her to my favorite expression of don't postpone joy. (Thanks Laurey). Our dinner tonight was worthy of any fine restaurant. Remember we are in a national park hours from a city. After dinner we went to the planetarium show and were cracking jokes before it started that made us laugh pretty hard. Not a great show but we made it fun   All in all another wonderful day in New Zealand.   Now for the pictures. 

From the visitors center windows

our hotel. We are on the top floor looking out. 

Map of the area and description of the hike I took. Couldn't download my camera photos today. 

Tomorrow we head to Christchurch and our last day with the group. After that we are on our own with a rental car.