Nelson

As soon as we arrived in the South Island I could tell already how more picturesque it was than the north island. Everywhere you look there are stunning snow tip mountains and lakes. So pretty.

Our first stop on the South Island was Nelson. On our way to Nelson we stopped off in Marlborough for some wine tasting. Marlborough is the wine capital of New Zealand.

That evening me and Ali cooked up a massive plate of pasta in preparation for our big day out at Abel Tasman National Park then watched wedding crashers with the rest of the group followed by an early night.

Up at 6:20 to make sandwiches and get ready for our 7am pickup, there is a 1hr drive to the park then we had to take a water taxi up the coast of the park to our drop off point for the 4hr hike back through the park. On the way up we stopped off in a few of the many amazing bays along the coast. We also came across a huge pod of dolphins who were loving the speed of the boat and playing in it's wake, chasing and jumping out of the water, a truly amazing sight. It made the trip and we hadn't even started the walk yet!

We got dropped of at Onetahuti bay where we ate one of the huge ham, tomato and avocado sandwiches we'd made, they tasted great, you have to try one. We then set off on the walk down the coastal track to Torrent bay which is supposed to take 4hrs but we marched it in 2.5hrs overtaking a couple that we on our boat who were dropped off at Bark bay further down the coast. The walk was amazing and took in some stunning coastal views.

That night we ended up having a massive party in our room. Disgusting boxed wine is all the rage and after a few glasses it actually tastes OK! We went out to a great Irish bar with some traditional Irish music and dancing! Our Irish joker, Sean, was in his element. You would actually die from laughter even if you spent 1 minute in his company. Terrible language and constant jokes....brilliant!!!