Niamh on Leave

I am somewhat of a planner but I don’t like having a trip so tightly organised that you cannot change day-to-day. Just as well, as the weather here has been unseasonably stormy the last few days so I think we are closer to Plan G than B at this stage.

We are on the north of the South Island. Hopefully when I am back up this way again in a few weeks I will get to hike the Abel Tasman but the storms forced us inside so we made the best of it and hit the breweries! We spent a few days in the town of Nelson which is home to many craft breweries. One afternoon in particular went astray with Peter at Bays Brewery, although I now know the difference between my malt and hops.  I saw it as an extension of my fermentation learning but the hangover reminded me it’s a little more potent that sauerkraut.

So yesterday it was great to see a clear sky. I dusted off the boots and had my first hike in a long time. We were in Nelson Lakes National Park. A great place to expel the beer cobwebs. We chose a loop track up Mt Roberts. The track winds around the mountain offering alternate views of Lake Rotoiti and the Arnaud Range as you climb, zig-zagging through forest before giving way to more alpine scrub. Moving across the exposed ridge, it was chilly. The wind reminding me I’m no longer in Central America, but great to see some autumnal colours as we moved along.