Nelson/Abel Tasman

From our ferry arrival in Picton (A) we drove on to Nelson (B) which was to be our home base for the next two days.

Ben informed us that Nelson is the geographical centre of New Zealand.  So we hiked up a huge hill to see that landmark!

View of Nelson from the Centre of New Zealand

Another attraction in Nelson was Jens Hansen - the Ringmaker.  He was the designer and maker of the ring used in the Lord of the Rings movies.  He has since passed on and his son, Halfdan, made the ring for the Hobbit movies.  As luck would have it, when Cris and Ben visited the store to see the original ring used in the movies, Halfdan was there and they were able to meet and visit with him a bit.

Where's Ben?

They used this huge version to film the scene where the ring falls into the snow

We drove through the vineyards over to Kaiteriteri  ( C ) and boarded a water taxi to Abel Tasman National Park, as there are no roads into this area of New Zealand.  Entrance is only gained from the water.

The taxi dropped us off at Anchorage Bay

We enjoyed a bit of time on the beach

                                               

We decided to hike up to Pitt Head for a view of Anchorage Bay

                                                 

What a view it was!

Split Apple Rock

Seals on Adele Island

                                   

The best fresh fruit ice cream we had on the South Island
At T.O.A.D. Hall in Motueka

Nelson, and the whole South Island, provided us with some of the best food we've found in New Zealand. To be honest, the food down here is not great (with the exception of ice cream!).  It's fine, but it's certainly nothing special.  However, in Nelson we found not one, but two great pizza places.  The first night we ate at The Hot Rock which had amazing wood-fired oven pizza.  The second night we ate at The Pizza Bar which had awesome pizza and pasta, too.  We were all so happy to have good pizza!  Cris is reminding me that we have had good pizza on the North Island (The Pizza Library Company in Rotorua and Mint here in Wanganui) but good pizza is just few and far between in New Zealand.  All fueled up and ready to go - on to our next destination - the wild West Coast of the Southern Alps!