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We woke up at 6:30 a.m. and heated up some pizza bread in the microwave. It was delicious. We had some orange juice and then prepared to hit the road. Craig was outside the van and told me to get out quickly; R2-D2 was in the bushes. I hopped out of the van and immediately knew what he meant. Some bird sounded exactly like R2-D2. It was as if George Lucas had recorded the bird and used it as-is to create R2-D2's sounds. How could a noise that electronic come from a living thing?
We parked up the street in Havelock and took a little walk through the town. It was once a gold mining town, and it was interesting to see a monument in memory of some Kiwis from the area, including William Hayward Pickering, who worked for the Jet Propulsion Lab and NASA in the 1950's. We entered a small cafe and Craig ordered a coffee. While we waited, we looked at exhibits pertaining to the town's gold mining history, including little vials of gold. I was reminded of the museum in Hope, Alaska. The early morning sunlight coupled with misty fog rising out of the mussel flats was spectacular, so we took the opportunity to take some photos before we continued on. On our drive north, we stopped at Pelorus Bridge to tramp the Circle Track. It was a gorgeous day (sunny and warm). The vegetation was lush and thick. The Pelorus Bridge is a wooden suspension bridge. The river was very still, and produced a lovely reflection of the vegetation.The track was neatly kept by the Department of Conservation (a.k.a. "DOC"). The morning sunlight filtered through the treetops and dappled the track in light. We saw some black-barked trees that were absolutely covered in wasps. There were no other people on the track, and it was a lovely way to spend the early morning. We returned to the camper van and continued on to Nelson, a pretty town right on the coast. Downtown has a field house, a big clock tower (the locals use it as a landmark to give direction: "Take a left at the ugly clock tower...") and a bunch of shops selling CD's, crafts, clothes, etc. We went in to some shops, and then called to try to schedule a paragliding trip for the afternoon. Craig was told that the wind was not favorable, but to try to call back at around 2 or 2:30 to see about a late afternoon flight. We then wandered through a small park near the field house. We were looking for Trafalgar Square, home of the Jens Hansen Gold and Silversmith. The late Jens Hansen was the artisan who was commissioned to create the One Ring for the Lord of the Rings movies. Jens Hansen passed away before the movies were released, but his son Thorkild continues the craft, and creates replicas of the One Ring and its companion chain, along with original jewelry. On our search for Trafalgar Square we ran into Christ Church cathedral, which was a very pretty gray church with a cool steeple. We walked all around Trafalgar and were about to give up and go eat lunch in the park when I asked a lady if she knew where the shop was. Turns out we were almost there, and she directed us about two blocks up on the left. We arrived at the shop and saw the replicas of the rings. They had no inscription, which Thorkild Hansen's brother Halfdan told us was accurate, as the rings they provided to the movies had no inscriptions (that was done digitally in post-production). We decided to each buy a ring. They were gorgeous. Halfdan sized our fingers (different than US sizing, their sizes are alphabetic). We told Halfdan we might be paragliding this afternoon, but we weren't sure what the time frame would be. We might not be able to return before 5:00 p.m. to pick up the rings. He gave us his cell phone number and said to call when we knew details. He lives near the paragliding area, so he could even meet up with us that night if necessary. Wow, yet another example of the extra lengths Kiwis are willing to go to make your experience a good one. We walked to the Victorian Rose restaurant for lunch. I got smoked chicken satay with pumpkin hummus, a salad, and bread. Craig got a Nelson native scallop and shrimp salad. Craig had a Waikato Extra Bitter Draught and I got an Archers Peach Schnapps Aqua. As its name suggests, the restaurant had a Victorian feel, and we ate in the bar area, surrounded by old Guinness advertisements. We went to some more shops to pick up souvenirs (a children's book of Maori legends, some necklaces, some CD's to listen to in the camper van). Craig called back the paragliding place, and they said that the weather looked favorable, and we could try for a flight at 3:30. We went back to the goldsmith and told them our plans for the afternoon. They told us that they could have the rings done shortly after 3:00. So we waited and picked up the rings before waiting at the Visitor's Centre to be picked up by Adventure Paragliding. We had to make a stop at the van as we were wearing sandals, and they recommended hiking boots. Andrea from Switzerland and her Kiwi husband Richard were the instructors. We were the only first-timers; a German couple and a Kiwi guy were working toward their paragliding certifications. Richard drove us up a private road up switchbacks to a hill overlooking the town and the sea. Andrea asked whose idea this was, and Craig said that it was mine. She said that she'd take me first then (which I was happy about, I get less nervous when I don't have to watch other people first). We got out of the van and they prepared the equipment. They strapped me into the tandem harness, with Andrea behind me. They set up the parachute. When Andrea counted down, we both had to sprint toward the edge of the hill. By the time we got to the edge the parachute was already in the air, and was providing a lot of resistance. Still, we kept running despite the difficulty, and soon we were airborne. We sailed in gentle circles for about fifteen minutes. The waning afternoon light looked amazing reflected on the ocean. From above, I could clearly see reforestation on the hills below. The harness was very comfortable; you could sit back in it like a chair. Andrea steered and read the altimeter while I just enjoyed the view and took photos. It was so amazingly peaceful and smooth! As we kept circling by our takeoff spot, we could see others in the group taking off, and I could wave to Craig. Since Andrea needed to take Craig next, we didn't land in their usual cow pasture. Instead we landed back at our takeoff spot, going uphill. Andrea told me to lift my legs up and land on my rear end. My right knee bent as my butt dragged up the hill, and Andrea kind of landed on top of me. Still, we were totally fine. They unhooked me from the harness and got Craig into his harness. I got photos of Craig taking off and sailing down toward the sea. The others in our group all took off, leaving me with Richard on the top of the hill gazing out onto the setting sun. After a while I realized Craig was out of view and when I heard Richard on the radio with Andrea I realized they were landing in a different spot. Richard drove me down to the landing spot, and we picked up the others. Craig had had a great ride and had landed in a cow pasture. He landed on his feet, which was very good as the pasture was full of cow patties, and this was still the very beginning of the trip, wardrobe-wise. They dropped us off at our van at 6 p.m. We decided to press on toward Abel Tasman National Park this evening. While on the road, I used the cell phone to call Ocean River Kayaks to make a reservation for their One Day - One Way Blast sea kayaking tour tomorrow. We arrived in Marahau at around 7:30 and found a campsite right across from the beach at the Marahau Beach Camp. We ate dinner at a small place called Hooked on Marahau, which shared a building with the campground office. We didn't expect it to be as good as it was, especially when we had trouble getting someone to pay attention to us enough to lead us to a table. But things quickly turned around. We each got the lamb shanks with garlic mashed potato and feta. It was absolutely delicious. Craig drank a Mac's Copperhop and I had a Smirnoff Ice. We had tea and berry cheesecake for dessert. We then went back to the campground. On the way to the bathroom to take a shower, I tripped over a picnic table in the dark, and got my first and worst bruises of the trip. We were freshly clean and settled into the van by 10:30. |
 Havelock  Craig on Pelorus Bridge  View from Pelorus Bridge  Christchurch Cathedral, Nelson  Steph and Andrea preparing to take off  Aerial view of Nelson  Craig paragliding over Nelson 
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