Punakaiki to Nelson Day 8 Go Ahead NZ Untamed Landscapes #goaheadtours #newzealand

- December 08, 2016

Traveler's Log Thursday, November 24, 2016
Punakaiki Resort
Pancake Rocks and Blowhole
West Coast Road
Cape Foulwind
Seal Colony
Westport
Waimea
Nelson

Kia Ora
It's Thursday Nov. 24 here in New Zealand but it's only Wednesday the 23rd back home so not Thanksgiving just yet.

Breakfast buffet at the Punakaiki Resort is sumptuous. We need the fuel because we have a lot of ground to cover before reaching Nelson around 5:30 p.m.

Our first stop is just up the road at Pancake Rocks and Blow Hole at the Paparoa National Park.

After poking around for about 45 minutes we're back on the bus cruising up the coastline.

We take a slight detour on our way to Westport...to Cape Foulwind and the Seal Colony. We any luck we might even see a penguin or two.

We see lots of seals but no penguins. 😡

After a second breakfast of ice cream, we're making our way to Westport.

We walk around Westport and stop in a little luncheonette, J's Food for the Soul. Had a great bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato (BLAT) sandwich. We leave Westport around 1:30 and have an hour and a half on the bus until our next stop.

The views are spectacular.

We're crossing the to the north tip of the South Island through the Buller Gorge. We stop in Murchison, for what else...ice cream!

I meet and talk with a guy wearing a "The World's Fastest Indian" t-shirt and I tell him we watched the movie on the bus. He laughed and said "so you know about my friend Burt, then" and let me take his picture.

I also meet a nice family traveling back to their home near Picton with their dog Jasmine.

On the road again and we see another New Zealand deer farm.

We arrive at our hotel in Stoke, just outside of Nelson; it's on the water and right near Nelson Airport.
We'll be at the Grand Mercure Monaco Hotel for a couple of nights and they have in-room laundry service-YES!!! It looks like an English Village. We even get to sleep late on Friday-the bus doesn't leave until 10 a.m.. YES!!!

Erica has arranged for a Turkey Dinner at our hotel and a few people attend but most of head over to the Honest Lawyer across the street for dinner. I devoured their Crumbed Cameberet and Jay enjoyed their Seafood Salad. Kapai!

Next up Abel Tasman National Park and a Kiwi Family Hosted dinner at their home (we'll break up into small groups for this event.)

Day 1 and 2-Travel Days to New Zealand
Day 3 Queenstown

Day 4 Milford Sound

Day 5 Queenstown, Free Day

Day 6 Fox Glacier

Day 7 Hokitika, Punakaiki

Day 8 Nelson

Day 9 Nelson, Abel Tasman Park

Day 10 Wellington

Day 11 Wellington

Day 12 Rotorua

Day 13 Rotorua

Day 14 Auckland