The Top Of The South Island
The northern end of New Zealand's South Island is made up of the regions of Marlborough, Nelson and the Abel Tasman National Park. Picton is a small town in Marlborough with a population of only 4,330 yet it is a major gateway to the South Island as it is where the ferries from Wellington arrive after their journey through the stunning Queen Charlotte Sounds. The city of Nelson is a much bigger, more populated place, home to around 46,000 people and claims to be the 'centre of New Zealand'. From the city, the edge of the Abel Tasman National Park can be seen across the Tasman Bay. Motueka is one of the largest towns in the region with around 8000 people and the tiny Marahau is the entry point to the Abel Tasman Great Walk.
How To Get Here
If you are visiting the South Island by ferry then you have no option but to visit Picton. Two companies, Bluebridge and Interislander, run daily ferries between Wellington and Picton, taking around three hours each way. The ferry trip across the Cook Strait and through the Queen Charlotte Sounds is incredibly beautiful with dark green forested hills and islands rising up out of the brilliantly blue water and dolphins sometimes making an appearance. Make sure you book onto a daytime ferry and venture out onto the deck to fully appreciate the views. Once in Picton, there are Intercity buses or if you have a pass, you can meet the Stray bus, as I did. There are also smaller shuttle buses to Nelson, roughly 100km away. From Nelson, there are Intercity buses through to Marahau via Motueka.
Picton
As it's a small place, there isn't a huge amount to do in Picton and it probably isn't worth staying more than a night or two – there are other, much more exciting places to visit! A nice hostel is The Villa, a bright blue wooden house with dorms in cosy little sheds, a main communal area and decent kitchen and a little sundeck/treehouse. At least while I stayed there, they also did a free dessert of apple crumble and ice cream every evening which was a definite winner!
Nelson
For a city, Nelson wasn't the liveliest place I've visited. It has a reasonably sized town centre but not a lot in the way of nightlife and the hostel we stayed at, Paradiso, although lovely, was about a 20 minute walk away. The best thing that we did in Nelson, although we were only there for a brief stay, was walking up to the sculpture marking the 'centre of New Zealand. The track begins at the Botanical Reserve, where New Zealand's first rugby game was held in 1870, and follows signposted trails quite sharply uphill. Distance-wise, it isn't far up to the viewing platform on Botanical Hill but how long it takes will depend on your fitness levels, due to the steepness. Once you've reached the top however, you will be rewarded with beautiful views over the city and Tasman Bay and behind you, the edge of the Maitai Valley - make sure to take a camera! The top of Botanical Hill is said to be the 'centre of New Zealand', although as the sign explains, this depends on your definitions!
Abel Tasman National Park
Abel Tasman, named after the Dutch explorer who was the first European here in 1642, is a national park and the location of one of the country's nine Great Walks, the Abel Tasman Coast Track. Motueka and Marahau are two of the closest towns to the national park and the entrance to the Coast Track is in Marahau. There are a couple of camp sites in the tiny town, one of which is The Barn, where I stayed whilst travelling with the Stray bus. It is a lovely place, with a variety of tent spaces, dorms and double cabins along with two kitchens, but is not particularly ideal in bad weather as it's all rather open-air, with little indoor communal space (there was torrential rain for my first two days there!). It is, however, an excellent location from which to walk the Coast Track, whether you are setting off on a multi-day hike or just exploring for a few hours. I walked as far as Apple Tree Bay and would love, at some point, to walk the whole thing. The track hugs the coastline, with views of the Tasman Bay and many beautiful sandy beaches. During the walk, we were lucky enough to see a rainbow perfectly framing Fisherman Island – a bright side to all that rain!
A Day's Kayaking
Another popular activity in the area is sea kayaking. I went on a guided day trip paddling around the bays; a water taxi took us from Marahau to Onetahuti Beach, where we spent the day kayaking up the coast, stopping at a lovely little beach for lunch before meeting the water taxi at Anchorage. We were a small group of only six people and as I went alone, I was in the guide's kayak which was great as it meant I didn't have to worry about drifting away, as some of the others did! One of the highlights of the trip for me was seeing seals basking on the rocks as we paddled right up to them. I would definitely recommend not leaving Abel Tasman until you've been kayaking there.
Finally, an absolute highlight of Marahau is the Fat Tui burger. A meal, I think, to rival Queenstown's famous Fergburger, they are sold from a little caravan just a few minutes walk from The Barn. My lamb burger stuffed with tasty meat, salad and bulgur wheat was delicious and one of the best burgers I've ever eaten so make sure you don't miss out!
Marlborough, Nelson and Abel Tasman make up a beautiful corner of New Zealand from the Sounds across to the remote sandy beaches and I would strongly suggest including these regions in your travels.