From Nelson to Motueka to Punakaiki

We left Nelson travelling North West to Motueka via the more scenic back road. Stopping off for some lunch along the way, the actual travelling time was about 2hrs. The motel was the most basic and dated that we have stayed in so far, but it was clean and as it's name suggests was set in some nice grounds. Anne outside our room About a 30 drive out of Motueka was the seaside resort of Kaiteriteri which lies on the outskirts of Abel Tasman National Park. There are no vehicles aloud in the park so access to it is either on foot or by boat. As we were short on time I booked on the 9-30am boat that took me half way up the coastline of the park and dropped me off at Medland bay from where I started my 4 plus hour walk Southwards down to Anchorage bay where the boat would pick me up at 3-20pm to return me to Kiteriteri. Anne had elected to stay on the beach and read her kindle. The walk was up and down on a dirt path only wide enough for single file walkers. Meeting people coming in the opposite direction meant someone had to give way. It was a bit overcast when I started but by 1o'clock the sun was blazing down. Although the walk hugged the coast line it was tree lined in places so a welcome break from the suns rays. Having made steady progress I arrived on Anchorage beach with 30 minutes to spare. As I was well prepared I took to the water for 20 minutes to cool off. Back at Kiteriteri in time for tea with Anne. Ll my pictures of the walk are on my camera a d need transferring onto the tablet so I can publish them on thisblog. Be patient. From Motueka we had a 4 hour journey heading South down the West coast to Punakaiki which is famous for some rather strange rock formations known as Pancake rocks. You cans see from the photographs why they are so named. This was our motel at Punakaiki, very "wild west" but a great place to stay.