Jan 25 - 29 Nelson, Janet and Paul, Farewell Point

Tuesday 25. The folks from Cable Bay Kayaks drove the half hour into Nelson from their headquarters and home, picked us up and back for a lovely guided tour of Cable Bay off the Tasmen Bay, North Island.
The coolest thing was seeing this bull seal playing with his lunch, a large octopus: seals can't chew, only rip, so he whips the thing around until a small chunk comes off, then he eats.
Can you spot the goats Gail is looking at from the front of the kayak? There are four on the rocky face of the hill above her hat. OK, you'll have to wait until we're back – you can see them on a better resolution of this pic, plus I have telephoto close-ups.
Nick Woods (catch the name, Molly?), our guide, shows us the magnifying qualities of a jellyfish. We had a great day, the next left Nelson to visit Tom Surface's long time pal from LRY days at FUUN, Janet Huddleston. We rented a car which the winding mountain passes through the Anatoki Range cured Gail of wanting to try driving on the right side of the car while staying on the left. Check the cloud bank in the distance – it's mountains with cloud trim.

Gail, Janet, her partner Paul, and Jim. We had a terrific meal, all from the garden, which Janet tends and Paul supplies with eight or nine different kinds of compost. They live in the Rangihaeata area of Takaka on Golden Bay, towards the northern tip of South Island. Paul has tramped (traveled afoot) the high trails of South Island bottom to top, documenting old way huts. Janet has traveled the world, working various jobs from teaching to, in Antarctica, housekeeping, mostly as a park ranger.
Why do they call it Golden Bay? The beach five minute walk from Janet and Paul's place.

The 28th, we drove even more north to Wharanki Beach, Farewell Point, the northernmost of North Island, and Farewell Spit, the 15 mile arm that protects Golden bay from the Tasman Sea. We approached the beach according to Janet's suggestion's and were richly rewarded.
Jim coming down from a cliff at Farewell Point, after meeting the Patel family from India and South Africa, some of whom were equally adventurous.


Golden Bay from Farewell Spit. Some where in there is Takaka, and towards there, the town of Collingwood, where Janet once lived – right next door to a chocolatier, where we naturally had to stop on the way back. We enjoyed another beautiful garden dinner with our added fresh mussels, and a closer look at the flora and fauna near the house guided expertly by Paul.
Alas, we arose early on the 29th, drove back to Nelson, hopped the bus to Blenheim, and there the train to Kaikoura on the east coast, our stopover on our way to Christchurch.