Back from NZ

The first couple of days in Auckland were kind of boring - and I didn't really get into the whole backpacker thing so I spent the time by myself, which was probably a bit too much time for self-reflection and introspection. Still, its not all bad - I do feel refocused on work and ready to put in a couple of good years of hard yards.

I arrived in Nelson at around 11pm - given that most stuff seems to shut at 5pm on the dot in NZ, this counted as rather late - even the backpacker's staff had gone to sleep. Spent Saturday walking around Nelson, checking out the "Center of NZ" and other sights around the town; its a nice quiet town with quite a pretty Swiss alps feel to it.

Sunday was spent kayaking in the Abel Tasman - very pretty, with dolphins surfacing right next to the kayak - it was awesome. It was good to get out on the water and it was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for paddling around. Spent the night aboard an old navy patrol boat, with a bbq and good conversation with other travellers; all-in-all very enjoyable evening spent with good company.

Monday was spent walking another 6 hours through the park - walked past some very pretty beaches, was a pleasant day's hike. Took the water-taxi back to Marahau and caught the bus back to Nelson that night - I was pretty cactus after the previous two days and slept like a log....

Spent my final day in Nelson, which was a miserable day with insane winds and rain pissing down, on a wine-and-arts tour. Tasted some local wines - they're decent whites but not too good with the reds; and tasted some local liquers which were pretty good - bought some sour apple schnapps to bring back with me.

All up, a pleasant week spent in NZ - at times the introspection was a bit too much, but it was good to go away for a week...