The Road to Paradise (and the Superbowl)

This morning we got under way from our apartment in Blenheim a bit before 10:00 AM. The forecast was for some rain although it was nice when we left. As we started on our trip to Kaiteriteri we encountered rain as we started through the coastal mountain range on our way to Nelson. We drove in wet conditions on some very twisty roads for about 1.5 hours. The tires on the rental car are not the best on tread depth and we got aquaplaning a couple of times on the tar and chip road surface. That kept our speed in check.

The rain let up by the time we got to Nelson and we had a sunny drive the rest of the way. We stopped in Motueka for lunch and to pick up some groceries for the next couple of days. We were warned that Kaiteriteri did not have a lot of restaurants or provisioning so we planned on making our own meals for the next couple of days. I figured we could survive on filet mignon and grilled chicken as our accommodation advertised a BBQ facility.

We were just blown away when we arrived in Little Kaiteriteri with the beautiful view from our apartment/cottage. This was so much better than trying to visit Able Tasman while staying in Nelson. Thanks to our B&B host, Greg, in Picton for suggesting this. Monte the Moose really likes it here.

A 200 m walk to a beautiful sand beach!

We walked to the main beach at Kaiteriteri and marvelled at the views. We encountered a family of birds we have yet to identify.

We had to book our water taxi trip for tomorrow to Abel Tasman park to do our hike along the Abel Tasman Coast Track.

The beach at Kaiteriteri was stunning.

There are only a couple of restaurants/bars here and I was hoping to catch some of the Superbowl. The first place we tried did not have ESPN so no luck. We walked down a side street and noticed a few young backpackers watching an outdoor TV at a bar that had not opened yet and lo and behold, we made it in time to pick up the 3rd quarter action. Sort of weird watching the Superbowl on a Monday afternoon. The bar did not open to serve until 3 PM so we had to wait about 20 minutes to order our pitcher of beer. Lots of fun watching on a beach with palm trees. Most of the other fellows there were European 20 somethings, touring the world. Had fun explaining the game to them.

An exciting finish when my Patriots intercepted in the last minute and won!!!!!

We sat on the beach for a while an took in the sights. Some low clouds over the distant mountains were interesting.

Some folks catching up on their suntans.

On our way back to our apartment we met an English Cocker Spaniel called Micha, note the long tail!

Back at our place, we walked to the beach and had a swim in the ocean before preparing the food for supper. There was a superb BBQ area for guests and we had a great time making a fabulous supper and enjoying a bottle of wine from yesterday's tour.

After sunset, we returned to the spa for a spin in the hot tub before retiring for the night.