Barbara had mentioned a portion of Queen Charlotte Track that was nearby, from Anakiwa to Davies Bay. Since we made the trek out to Cullen Point the day before, we thought we’d check it out. It would give us a taste of QCT.

Anakiwa was a cute little town with vacation rentals, launching area, and small marina. We hiked and geocached out do Davies Bay and back, the views and weather were gorgeous!

Then we headed off towards Nelson, stopping off at Peloris Bridge for a looksee and short loop hike that included a swingbridge. Peloris River was crystal clear. We watched from the bridge as a couple were about to take a plunge into it.

Upper Moutere, is just past Nelson and had several wineries. The roads are in rolling hills and we stopped for winetasting at Kahurangi Estate and Neudorf Vineyards. We were the only ones at both locations! Both were very serene and the wines were good, although I think I preferred the wines at Neudorf. We stocked up for the remainder of the trip.

We made a quick stop at Sea Kayak Company while driving through Moutere to pay for our kayak and hiking tour the next day.

Then we settled in at Old MacDonald’s Farm in Marahau, our home for the next two nights. It was the road’s end and rather different than other Holiday Parks. It was a farm, but not all that many animals. The property stretched out quite a bit, with the campervan powered sites located at the very back. There were some cabins in an area you passed through to get to the powered sites where a Stray bus had parked. They weren’t like the more rowdy crowd we met up with on a Kiwi Experience Bus in North Island, fortunately.

We walked the short distance to the entrance of Abel Tasman National Park and had a look around the building there. We looked in disbelief as we saw a couple of people walking out of the park with a calf on a leash!

The Adventure Continues>>>