Motueka

So in the previous hostel in Nelson we spoke to an Israeli girl who had a van. She said back then that on Sunday she'd planned on driving north and that she would take us to Motueka if we'd want to. Our plans weren't set in stone yet back then but now we knew we wanted to go there on Sunday too, so we contacted her. She was still up for it which was great, especially since the InterCity bus going that morning was already fully booked. We walked to the old hostel and before we knew it were on our way to Motueka in an old Toyota van.

Arriving there it turned out difficult to park to drop us off as there was a busy market in the park in front of our hostel. We couldn't enter our dorm yet as it was too early, so we walked around a bit on the market and in the town to continue searching for a new bikini for Susanne. The old one had sadly given up after at least 6 years. We were lucky and not only found a new one but also got some great Asian food and fresh strawberries on the market. For a second lunch, we got some fish and chips at a takeaway and ate it in a mediocre park.

After a nostalgic walk around the town visiting the hostel where Susanne stayed while working here 10 years ago, it was time to prepare for the upcoming hike in the Abel Tasman National Park. We had already sorted out which clothes and gear to bring as we left everything else in the hostel in Nelson that morning. But we still needed to buy food for the coming 4 days and pack it nicely in our bags. To turn our leftover 500gr of oats into 4 breakfasts, we decided to buy eight 35gr bags of oats with cinnamon and sugar to add one to each breakfast. For the rest we stuck to the usual hiking foods and amounts.Read more