Venturing to the South Island...Fjords, Glaciers, and Sandflies, Oh My!

Although the ferry is a means of travel to the South Island, I highly recommend traveling this way as you get a look in on the northern South Island sounds. 

Flying would be beautiful in its own right and I will travel that way back to Wellington in 18 days time but right now, on a clear, sunny day, the ferry ride is the way to go. 

We arrived in Picton and took off to Pelorus Campground just an hour away by taking the scenic/windy road over and set up camp for the night.

Although this campsite was a little expensive comparatively ($12/person) it was a gorgeous setting and include a hot shower! 

Took off from Pelorus for the west coast of Abel Tasman, to Anapai and Mutton Bays, that we heard was the less touristy but just as picturesque side. We did an easy hour hike to the beach and found an amazing secluded spot. 

We jumped right in to the water and although it was initially cold, it was quite enjoyable. I definitely recommend the extra drive to get to see Abel Tasman on a less touristy site and we hit a perfect weather day for the beach. 

This was our first run in with sand flies and these little flies have a very big bite. One of the jokes that the local men like to make is that only the female sand flies bite, usually followed with "go figure!" Harharhar...but really, you won't notice them until they have already bit you and you will pay for it for the next week or so. I started with 100% DEET and it didn't hold the buggers off so we got some local tropical strength spray that did the trick. We were also told Dimp would work as well. There are all sorts of brands out there so I suggest asking the locals!

We made our way back towards Nelson but decided to sleep overnight by the beach at Wainui Bay. The sunset there was stunning. 

The following day we had something to celebrate: Lukas's birthday! We decided to spend the day in Nelson to ring in his 29th. We made our way into town and found some free (read: cold) public showers down by the beach to prep for our night out. We decided to head into town and started out at Founder's Brewery for a sampler of organic beer. Which was a great deal at only $10 and was a neat little spot. 

In Nelson, the iSite allows overnight camping and has toilets open 24 hours which is uncommon in many of the cities, score! We walked over to Free House, a beer hall that used to be a church. It had a cool vibe to it but it was pretty empty and there was no music playing. I am sure this place could be really fun with the right jams playing but we didn't stay long. We continued our beer craft trail to Sprig & Fern. This bar was more our speed. We got a booth in front and played some chess, chatted with the locals, and eventually ordered dinner. The burgers there were delish and cheap! A band came on around 9 pm that really got the place moving so we stayed and met other travelers from Italy and Switzerland. The following day we left Nelson early for Greymouth. On the way we made a quick stop at Maruia Falls which was about 11 km out of our way but a beautiful view. It would have been more spectacular if the tide was high but the waterfall wasn't raging. Overall I would say it was worth the detour.