Hostel-Hopping in Nelson

We are leaving Atlantis and heading to Nelson, the supposedly sunniest place on the whole island. Of course, we want to visit the beautiful beach and Abel Tasman National Park. That's the plan.

Keep your fingers crossed and wait! But we don't have to wait longer than 10 minutes because a young Dutch chicken farmer stops for us and clears the backseat of his van. And off we go to Nelson. During the winding drive, it dawns on me (Lisa) that today is already December 31st...but New Year's Eve is generally overrated. Something will come up for the evening.

Arriving in Nelson, there is a sobering realization: Our hostel is located five kilometers outside the city center, so we have to take the bus.

However, the location of the hostel, just a five-minute walk from the beach, compensates for this.

In the common room, we immediately start talking to Jess from America, as well as Laura and Alina, two girls from Germany, and we decide to cook and celebrate together in the evening. New Year's Eve plans can be made quickly.

Diana, a very lively and open-minded teacher on sabbatical, joins us and brings the champagne directly. Cheers! We cook curry, drink white wine and champagne, and then take a taxi convoy to the city center, where we celebrate the new year with locals and tourists. There is a small stage with live music and various pubs where we taste beer, cider, and gin and tonic. At 12:00 a.m., a mini fireworks display takes place and the whole spectacle is over. People scatter in all directions and we also head towards the hostel. Hello 2018! We are curious to see what you have in store for us.

The next morning, we all have breakfast together before the group disperses, and the two of us decide on the only sensible activity on New Year's Day: Nothing! Where? At the beach! Spending New Year's Day in the sun by the sea is not bad at all. However, we find it somewhat absurd to bask here on the beach while friends and family back home are just raising their glasses to the new year. Cheers!

After plenty of doing nothing, we decide to have a movie night, as true Star Wars fans should. What we did not consider: the last bus has long since left, as public transportation is very scarce here in Nelson. Walking takes too long, so thumbs up. We're lucky and get picked up by an elderly Kiwi couple. More precisely, by a friendly older Kiwi lady, because her husband, who is only wearing swimming trunks, sits with a gloomy expression on the passenger seat and greets us with: "Put your seatbelt on. No seatbelt = 50 dollars!" Safely buckled up, we have a very nice conversation with his wife, who drives us to the cinema.

The following day, we change hostels. We want to be closer to the city center and the weather isn't great for the beach anyway, as it's raining and raining. In our new accommodation, we share a nice 4-bed dorm with two guys from Cologne :) Their names are Flo and Marcel, and they are the calmness personified. We also meet Jess from our old hostel and the Dutch chicken farmer again.

Our next destination is Abel Tasman National Park, which can be reached from Nelson by car or an expensive shuttle bus. We have neither a car nor the money, so we hitchhike again. It surprisingly works well once more: First, two tour guides pick us up, who are transporting their motorcycle travel group's luggage. They drop us off at a convenient corner, and while we wait, a girl joins us who also wants to hitchhike? Are our chances better or worse with her? ;) Well, it doesn't matter, because after a few minutes, Donald stops and takes us. He explains that he doesn't have to be in the office today and can therefore take us towards Abel Tasman. During the drive, he announces that he can take us directly there and asks if we want to see some of the surroundings? Of course! After a little sightseeing tour, Donald drops us off at the park entrance and gives us his business card: If we have any problems or can't get from A to B, we should contact him. Thanks, Donald!

It's gray, it's raining, a wonderful day for hiking. It takes about three days to hike through the park completely. We don't have that much time, nor do we have a reservation for one of the huts in the park - which are booked months in advance - or one of the campsites there. So we content ourselves with a day hike on the Coast Track. On our left, densely wooded slopes stretch out, on our right, the undergrowth slopes down towards the sea. Swarms of cicadas chirp so loudly at some spots that you almost have to cover your ears. The undergrowth opens up to our right every now and then, revealing a beautiful sea panorama. So we hike for a few hours until we take one of the turnoffs to the many bays. There, we enjoy the view together with some other hikers and seagulls and rest for a while. On the way back, the sun breaks through the clouds and shines so brightly in our eyes that we don't have to wait two minutes at the park exit before we get a ride to the next town. There, too, two German women pick us up after a few minutes of waiting and hitchhiking in the evening sun and also want to go back to Nelson. What luck.

The plan to drive to Kaikoura the next day is literally washed away. It's pouring rain, and hitchhiking in this weather is probably not very cozy. So we stay in Nelson for another day, change hostels again (because at Tasmanbay Backpackers, there's free hot chocolate pudding every evening), and hitchhike to Christchurch the next morning.