Abel Tasman - Hopewell

Today we cheated for the first time and took a bus part of the way. We were due to cycle something like 105 miles to arrive in time for a water taxi at 4pm but the lady at the hostel we were staying at was concerned that this was impossible. So we got a bus to Nelson and rearranged for our taxi to pick us up from Havelock. We ended up cycling only 45 miles but made the right decision. The cycling was pleasant with two climbs and no time pressure. We arrived in Havelock in plenty of time and decided to chill out at a waterfront bar taste the famous green lipped mussels. We got a taxi across to Hopewell on the Kenapuru Sound. The journey was lovely although Mark wasn't too impressed with the weather as it was overcast. When we arrived at Hopewell (Youth Hostel) it was like arriving into a commune! There were a lot of over friendly people and most of them were German. Our room was perfect though, not like a hostel at all and it had a lovely little terrace where we enjoyed a bottle of wine and views of the sound. Later on we were called for mussels which was awesome. Every so often the owners pick up a load from the mussel farm nearby and cook them all up. They get poured on the table with fresh bread and dips and everyone digs in. The mussels enough to satisfy the biggest hunger... delicious. That evening we didn't really need much for dinner which was good.

The following day we had another water taxi booked for 4pm so we had enough time to enjoy the sounds. The time wasn't nearly enough though. It would have been nice to go out kayaking as the sun was shining and everything looked really colourful but we were quite tired so settled for a walk to a nearby farm by the water. The lady at Hopewell suggested we chill out on the meadow but with the number of wasps around and my wasp phobia, it wasn't going to happen. I must point out though that NZ wasps are nice, they don't bother humans, it's the bees that are a pain.

It was a shame we had to leave so soon but we had cycling to do and wine tasting next on the agenda :) The ride from Te Mahia to Renwick was one of my favourite rides. The views were amazing and this time it was sunny as well. The winding roads were very queit and the weather perfect. Not to mention the ride was only 40 miles!!! As we approached Renwick vinyards galore came into view, rows and rows of vines was all we could see. Arrived at the B&B which was lovely and was greeted with a glass of wine and some cheese and biscuits, yum, this part of the trip was going to be good.