Christmas shopping in 70 degree weather, Mt Robert and a trip to the Sounds

Mt Robert

The week after the glow worm expedition came and went in the blink of an eye. Shannon transitioned jobs mid week, spending the first half of Wednesday at Council and the second half at Bayleys (the new gig). We had a proper morning tea farewell with the Council crew, cappuccino and date scones from Devilles…YUM (Kylie, you and Tyler will definitely be brunching here). Plus a generous gift consisting of a lovely bottle of vino and a voucher to an adorable boutique gift shop. I will definitely be missing the council crew. The Bayleys team welcomed me with open arms and I began to dive back into the design side of me - building property adverts for the incredible homes that are listed in Nelson and the surrounding areas. I’m really enjoying the job thus far and always excited to be expanding my skills and experience.

For those that may not have connected the dates, the week we’re speaking about was actually Thanksgiving Day week. Well, let us tell you, Thanksgiving does not exist in NZ. Even if it did, no one could afford it, the price of a Turkey here is close to 6 times the price of one in the states. Needless to say, our budget conscious minds would not let us partake in the traditional meal – so we came up with our own NZ Turkey day twist. It was amazing of course – Sticky scallop and vegetable fettuccini with blasted broccoli and asparagus to top it off, oh yeah and of course BACON. We are happy to call this meal the best we’ve had in NZ hands down. It was delicious, as was the bottle of vino we paired with it. As great as it was, we were definitely a bit homesick for the families and traditional food. Thankfully, Aunt Marie and crew will be hooking up a replacement Tday meal while we’re in Montana. Counting down the days!

Saturday we spent the day finishing up our Christmas shopping. Christmas shopping while it’s 70 degrees outside is a different experience; we got through it and were able to tick one more thing off the ‘getting ready for home’ list.  

Sunday we decided to get out of the house and spend the day tramping in Nelson Lakes National Park. This was our first hike in the Park and it was absolutely beautiful. The surroundings are very similar to what you would find in Northern Idaho or Montana. It felt like home. We hiked up Mt Robert, an elevation of 1,421 metres (4,662 ft), which sits at the side of Lake Rotoiti The way up was a bit tough for me I must admit – switchbacks all the way up the face of a mountain is not my idea of fun. But as John kindly reminded me when I stopped complaining and we reached the top – the view is what makes the hard part worth it. And yes, it was worth it, 100 times over.

We made our way up the mountain, through some different vegetation  from the coast hikes we have been on and back down again. We stopped briefly at the edge of the lake to cool off when we had our first eel experience! Thankfully we weren’t in the water when John noticed them – they were hiding under the dock probably waiting for fisherman to feed them fish waste. Ugly little buggers they are about 4 feet long and creepy looking as well. Of course our minds immediately turned to food and we commented on how delicious they probably were. Eel fishing may have to be added to the list.

All in all it was a great Thanksgiving weekend.

The week was fairly uneventful, work, running, dinner…we did however enjoy a nice kiwi barbie with the old flatmates on Wednesday night. Venison sausages and rotisserie chicken on the barbie, paired with some phenomenal salads and hot chips for an appetizer. Dinner on the deck, sunset over the bay, good friends and wine - A great mid week celebration. Thursday rolled by and Friday was once again upon us.

Sunset in the Sounds



View from our room.



Raetihi Lodge





Friday after work we headed toward Kenepuru Sound – through the windy roads, across the water via boat taxi – arriving at the Raetihi Lodge in time to catch the incredible sunset and enjoy a bottle of vino and some cribbage. This place is definitely secluded, with nothing surrounding you but the sound and native bush. It was peaceful, beautiful and incredibly relaxing. We woke up Saturday morning ready to head out and explore. We jumped on the double sea kayak and headed out toward a sandy beach just across the way.  Unfortunately we didn’t come across any dolphins, but of course, there were plenty of birds to photograph. We spent some time walking the beach – Shannon gathering rocks she’s determined to somehow turn into jewelry and John skipping rocks and looking for critters, crayfish, anything that we could potentially eat. It was a great adventure and killer arm/shoulder workout…which we’re both still feeling.

After making our way back to the lodge and enjoying some lunch, we headed off again, this time by land and mountain bike up the road to see what we could find. The truth is, there wasn’t much. BUT, we did find the local golf course which in true NZ fashion fences off the greens so the sheep can’t get in. Classic. Saturday night brought more wine, more cribbage, and a game of trying to photograph the Tui that kept flying onto the deck off our room. A perfect photograph of the Tui would show the white tuft on its breast…this is as good as we could get, shot 10 out of 462 (okay, a bit of an exaggeration).

The final exciting moment of the day was the 5.7 magnitude earthquake…it didn’t last long, maybe 10-20 seconds, but count to 10 and think of everything that could run through your mind in that short amount of time! It was a bit crazy, and I was happy when it was over that my wine didn’t get knocked over. Sunday we awoke to rain and headed back across the water to the Adventureship and made our way back home for some Sunday College football watching. All in all, another successful weekend!

Stay tuned for the next posting, which will include a boat trip to Abel Tasman for the Bayleys Christmas Shout (which means party)…packing…and what we’re most excited for, MONTANA and the Sanden family!! Lots of love to everyone in the states. Stay safe and warm and here’s to the holiday season!

Cheers,

John and Shannon