From the Mountains to the Sky Act 13: Home from Abel Tasman

On Sunday, we traveled home from Abel Tasman to Christchurch along the route shown in my last post. This was not the most efficient route but it was perhaps the most scenic.

Early in the morning, 'I' and I woke up to see the sun rise over the Tasman Bay. Unfortunately, the clouds were not completely cooperative but it was still quite a nice sunrise. Definitely worth waking up for. This photo doesn't really do it justice, but it was the best I could do.

We set out towards Nelson around 9am, expecting to breakfast in Motueka. Unfortunately, given that it was the winter off season, our chosen restaurant was not open and we journeyed on. Instead, we went to the Morrison St. Cafe in Nelson. It was excellent! I had blueberry pancakes with maple butter and they were great. Definitely the best breakfast I've had in a while.

While in Nelson, we stopped at the modern art deco cathedral for a quick visit. Note the clean lines and extreme height without buttresses. This is still a working cathedral and since it was Sunday morning, a service had just finished. The people there were very welcoming to visitors and very tolerant of our wanderings throughout the church. One of my favourite things was the small children running around the cathedral, just like I ran about my church when I was little. It was a wonderful breath of fresh air that even in this magnificent building, children are still children.

Continuing on from Nelson towards Picton, the roads became very windy. I was driving and it felt like I was in a car on television, the amount that the wheel was turning back and forth. The Queen Charlotte Drive is one of the famous drives in New Zealand and it was very nice. We stopped at many lookouts overlooking the northern sounds and fjords

and took a group picture when we arrived in Picton.

From Picton, we drove onwards towards home, stopping for supper in Blenheim. This was the best meal that I have eaten in New Zealand. It wasn't particularly New Zealandish (I had pasta) but it was slathered in pesto, garlic white wine sauce, and bacon. Very tasty.

From there, it was just a quick (4 hour) trip down the coast back home. We passed back through Kaikoura, site of our very first weekend trip. It was kind of fun to see that landscape again. We arrived home around 8:30, unfortunately too late for church. I had hoped to take the rental car and go but we missed it by 1.5 hours.