Is it just the sun?

30th March 2011

Today was a surprisingly satisfying day, despite not really doing much. Of course, I write this after a couple of glasses of very good Syrah from one of the wineries we visited a few days ago, but still…

All we’ve actually accomplished today is getting from Havelock to Motueka, doing a washload of laundry, and arranging our activity for the next two days (kayaking in the Abel Tasman NP with an overnight stop half way). But it’s the little things that are satisfying. We had breakfast at the Slip Inn right by the Havelock marina, where the morning sun made the water glint and kept us warm enough to slurp coffee on the little balcony overlooking the boats. The drive to Motueka (via Nelson) was far more beautiful than the other time we drove to Nelson through the rain.

Not swimming with dolphins, Part 3 almost spoiled the day. We had given up on dolphins and decided to swim with seals in the Abel Tasman NP. But we arrived to find that the tides are wrong at the moment, so no seal swim. However, two days of kayaking with an overnight stop on a floating hostel sounds like a great adventure and with a whiff of good luck there was a private cabin available.

The girl at the iSite also suggested our accommodation tonight. Have I mentioned that NZ tourist info places are called iSites and the staff in them are the best informed and most helpful tourist information people in the entire world? Now I have. Anyway, our little chalet at Terrace Garden Chalets is as well-equipped and cheap as any motel room, but is also beautiful and set above a lovely market garden farm on a steep hillside overlooking rolling countryside and the distant sea. The whole place is laid out like a garden, but everything growing is either crops or for the flower trade. Just now there were hundreds of birds in the decorative eucalyptus bushes outside, each bush quivering as though in shared excitement.

Anyway, we opened the wine to go with spaghetti in a particularly good tomato sauce involving mushrooms and olives. I have to wonder whether it is merely the presence of sunshine that can make such a low-key day a real pleasure.

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 1st, 2011 at 9:43 am and is filed under New Zealand. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.