Rest and relaxation in paradise

So, our time on the South Island is almost over. We drove from Blenheim to Nelson and were amazed at how much the place has grown. We walked towards the church, which stands on a hill. So, we had to climb stairs! We enjoyed the view and wanted to take a quick look inside the church. To our surprise, it was decorated with an estimated 40 Christmas trees. For 15 years there has been an exhibition for a good cause - schools, clubs and groups decorate their own tree with a theme and it is then exhibited for 8 weeks! We collected some ideas for future craft projects... We then went to Tahunanui Beach, where the children built with driftwood and enjoyed a cooling off, we walked and collected shells! Then there was an introduction to Mr. Whippy Icecream. And everyone actually liked it. We then drove the extremely curvy road back to Havelock and to our cottage on Queen Charlotte Drive. We could hardly believe our luck when we entered the 'little house'. It was huge, had everything your heart desires; a chilled bottle of Sauvignon Bland, a large refrigerator for beer and meat, a large open kitchen, books, videos, games and much more. But the best thing was the surroundings. So we had our own tree house, two friendly male sheep as neighbors, a dog that came to say 'hello' from time to time, a large veranda with BBQ, a swing set and lots of lawn with a view of an arm of the sea! There we enjoyed very tasty aperitifs and good meat! We would have liked to stay forever. Despite the paradise, we decided to drive to Havelock on the second day - the capital of 'Greenshell Mussels'. We ordered a tasting plate with different varieties - it was extremely delicious - one person was satisfied with the chips :-) Afterwards we drove to Moetapu Bay and bathed all alone in the Mahau Sound. Fantastic! In the evening we watched 'whale rider' (a New Zealand film) together and shed many tears (at least three of us...). This morning we continued on to Picton. There is currently a harbor festival with live music. The children enjoyed the great park by the water. Our car drove us 6015km! Tomorrow we will take the ferry to Wellington - hopefully without seasickness!