Abel Tasman

After a day at work we got home on Friday afternoon via Aldi for some last minute snacks to take away with us. Packed our bags realising we have plenty of room for extras. But also knowing we have to transport our luggage on and off a water taxi.
At airport by Uber just after 9pm, through the necessary security and immigration which is now really fast, probably because we know it well. Off to the club for a couple of wines and a bite then on the plane 5 mins after boarding time. Flight attendants were calling us. We were far from late. They were just very efficient. Plane wasn't full so an easy boarding.
Flight was quick as usual. Smooth and super efficient at Christchurch airport. A quick walk to check-in for our Nelson flight then off again into the skies just on daybreak for another hour.
Greg arrived at the airport so a cuppa with him, Shelby and the kids before the next drive to Kaiteriteri via breakfast and a few supermarket essentials. Met Nick and Shona and dropped our combined luggage on the Kaiteriteri beach ready for the chartered water taxi.
After loading all our luggage including Nicks Laser yacht we were off for the 40min cruise to Torrent Bay. Lucky that it was a super high tide as the taxi berthed at the jetty in the lagoon so only a 50 metre walk to the holiday house. One hour later the food is packed away, the wine cellar is full, and the fridge is struggling to cool the kilos of goods.
Julie and I by this time are a little exhausted from lack of sleep so a small power nap helped on by a few wines to celebrate the 4 of us being back together in our secret paradise.
Fish and steak dinner and a few more wines thanks to the aussie and kiwi vintners we finally collapsed into bed by 10pm after not having seen a bed sice 6.30am the previous day.
Woke up after a long sleep to a poor weather forecast. How wrong it was. Beach walk mandatory, eggs for breakfast then some reading, chatting to locals. Not many locals- a few Weka, fantails, and sparrows. Last night there was even a hawk that divebombed the sparrows just missing Regan. Was incredibly fast action. We watched a skate gliding smoothly in the shallows looking for a snack. We even tried the paddle board in the lagoon. Practice required on that one. A swim was included in the training.The sun is fierce in the bay. Such a sheltered area not affected by southerly winds.Read more