Without much trouble we arrive in Nelson and as we get our bags from the bus we hear with a marked French accent “are you Lara?”, and yes, sure I was and the girl looking for us was from the Palace backpackers, coming to pick us up with a minivan from the 60s’. It was a nice surprise! Nelson is on the coast, with a nice little harbour, and surrounded by mountains. From downtown it is possible to start hikes of different lenghts, or go by bus to the Abel Tasman National Park for longer walks on the coastal trails there. That would have required some planning and booking ahead of time, in particular you need to arrange your walks according to the tides, because some parts of the path are accessible only during low tide. As the longest we manage to arrange is 1 or 2 days ahead, we are definitely putting the Tasman park in the “next time” list and stick to more “the sun is shining, let’s go up there now!” plans.
Our last stop on the north island is New Zealand’s capital Wellington. Since we haven’t updated our brains quickly enough we once again end up a bit outside town, but luckily Wellington is not so big, they indeed call it “the cutest little capital”. We are just a botanic garden away from the center, but still on top of he hill, so to get to downtown is not really a problem as much as getting back to the room!
Less than one hour on the bus brings us to Taupo. This is the main starting point to explore the Tongariro National park and in particular to hike the Alpine crossing between the volcanoes there. It all looks nice and pleasant in the guide book, but the weather is putting us off: low clouds, chilly temperatures and rain forecast. We have been smart enough to put this activity on “the next time” list and just enjoy the view of the lake and the windy shores. Better proceed to the east coast and Hawke’s bay, which is famous for its wineries and fancy architectures. So we arrive in Napier in the early evening and check-in at “central backpackers”.