Waking up to rain in Aussie bay, headed to Nelson to feel out the Able Tazman great walk. We found street parking right in front of the I site/DOC and since it was Sunday we did not have to pay, yay. We spent the first few hours on the internet. I have been checking my email since we arrived waiting for the wedding pictures to be ready, and they were ready today. We could not have been happier with them, there are some very special pictures and we just love them! We booked the Abel Tazman walk for 10-19-10. The weather will not be sunny and hot like all the pictures advertise, but since this is the most visited national park in NZ because it is so accessible we decided to beat some of the crowds. There are two low tide crossings, we talked to the DOC lady and she showed us the tide chart for next two weeks so we could plan what direction we are walking and when to hit the tidal crossings. They would not give a print out of the times and did not seem to recommend we write them down…we should just know I guess. We asked for a pen and wrote the times down. Then we over heard the DOC officer casually talking about some kids who could not cross a river, missed a tidal crossing, could not be picked up by boat because the ocean was too rough and the road washed out that would get rescuers close to them so no one could pick them up for a bit. Interesting?! Felling good about our planned route we booked tent sites. No huts this time, the tent sites are cheaper and we can't live in luxury all the time! We are completing this tramp in 2 nights and 3 days. After our last great walk that we could have completed in the same time and missed the snow storm we figured a little hustle never hurt.
Since it was still raining in Nelson we decided to get some supplies. We looked at some hiking shoes for Shabree that were waterproof. Her shoes get so saturated that we figured to enjoy our spring hiking we need shoes to go with the rest of our gear. We found her a great pair. Paul will be looking for more selection and probably pick up a pair in Christchurch. Nelson is a great town, very pretty. We walked around most of the day and decided to eat some lunch. Looking in restaurant windows we spotted "oldrity" the guy with the dreadlocks from the ferry! We did not eat there but went to Lamborettis and each had a sandwich. It tasted so good to have some different food! What a great treat.
Leaving Nelson due to no places to camp we drove up hwy 60 to Mc Kee campsite. It is right on the ocean and only $6 per person. The rain let up as we pulled in so we enjoyed dinner with another ocean view, beautiful sunset but the ominous storm clouds hovering around the mountains.
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