Pelorus River

This morning we packed up and set off from Blenheim towards the town of Nelson.  The road soon headed into the hilly terrain which separates the Marlborough district from the Nelson-Tasman district.

As we pulled into the quaint town of Havelock - which proudly describes itself at “the green shell mussel capital of the world”, we got a feel for the beauty of the Marlborough Sounds.  The Marlborough Sounds are a stunning and difficult to access area of New Zealand comprised of numerous bays, inlets, islands and Sounds which are sunken River valleys now filled in by the ocean.  The area has over 1500 km of coastline with forested hills  rising out of the ocean along an area with few roads.  Access to much of the Marlborough Sounds is only possible by boat, and some New Zealanders who really like their own space have their homes tucked into these areas, maintaining contact with the outside world via the Mail Boat which delivers mail daily throughout the Marlborough Sounds.

From Havelock we continued on until we arrived at Pelorus Bridge - a stop which had been recommended to Sharyl by our friends Marc and Kiely who live in Nelson. The Pelorus Bridge goes over a stunning section of the Pelorus River (which happens to empty into the ocean near Havelock), and has some short hiking trails as well as places you can jump in the water.

We didn’t waste any time, heading straight for the hiking trail.  Right at the start of the trail was a sign encouraging hikers to protect the river ecosystem and clean dirt off their shoes and spray their shoes to kill any weed seeds or invasive pathogens which may have been unknowingly picked up on a prior hike elsewhere in the country.  This is something Hawai’i would greatly benefit from, as it would - among other things - help protect Ohia trees from the ravages of Rapid Ohia Death which is currently decimating that iconic species.

After spraying our slippers we headed down the trail, and on towards the river.  When we arrived at the riverside, there was only one other person taking a few photos, but they left less than a minute after we showed up.  River was in jeans which were sure to get soaked, so we stripped him down first thing.  I then promptly jumped into the water which was about the temperature of Iao Stream - definitely cold enough to wake you up but not really an ice bath.  The boys were having plenty of fun throwing rocks, but I grabbed River for a quick dip in the water - which shocked him for about 3 seconds then he was fine and happy as a clam to continue scampering around on shore with Reef finding the best rocks to toss into the Pelorus river.

After about 30 minutes we got back to the trail, continuing the short hike and seeing a rare native Totara tree along the way.

Back at the car Sharyl & I each grabbed a coffee from the little coffee stand in the parking lot, and set off for Nelson.  An hour later we were crawling through the first traffic we’ve had this entire trip as we got into the main section of Nelson town.  We pulled off by Tahunanui Beach and stopped into a restaurant called Catch 22 for lunch.  It was around 3:00 so the restaurant was dead slow, but the people working there were super friendly.  Sharyl tried a great local beer from McCashin’s Brewery called Stoke IPA, and the food was really good as well.  The bartender even brought out a big. Box of toys for the boys to play with!  River was racing all around the restaurant with a big truck from the toy bucket having a ton of fun until it was time to leave, at which point he was somewhat less than happy to be forced to give up his truck.

After lunch we headed to our Book-A-Bach (the local Kiwi AirBnB) which was just outside of Nelson in the town of Richmond.  The rental is in a newly developed neighborhood, which lacks much of the character Nelson is know for, but it is a really nice new house which backs up to a greenway and is a quarter mile walk to both a coffee shop and a brewery.  So, even without the added character we are very happy with the place (even the carpet still smells brand new).

After dropping our bags and relaxing for a bit we headed into Nelson’s main area to meet Marc and Kiely for dinner at a fantastic Thai Restaurant called Chokdee.  River was a bit of a pain during dinner, maybe he was missing his long lost toy truck from Catch 22 earlier in the day, but eventually one of the waitresses came up and started talking to him and he was enamored- and was suddenly a very quiet kid.  Of course that only lasted as long as she was there talking with him, but any pause in the squawking is good no matter how brief!  After a great dinner we all made plans for tomorrow’s hike in Abel Tasman National Park, then headed home to get some rest for the adventures that await in the morning!