March 5th

We have done a bit of driving the last few days, moving from the West Coast up to Nelson.  It is going well with reasonable weather and everyone is enjoying the trip.  We stopped at a steam museum in Wakefield which was actually closed but the two old blokes that ram the place let us roam the grounds and they even started up a couple of the old tractors for us.  They  even had an old Gravely in the barn!

Then we progressed along up the Buller Gorge and saw evidence of recent floods and earthquakes.  This place makes Alaska seem placid!  We ALL (including Wendy) crossed a suspension bridge over a flooding river just for the sake of doing it and taking a walk on the other side.  Here is Jim and Lynndeen halfway across.

Then we got to Nelson and were able to pick up the bikes a day early.  Dang!  We all have a bit of the jitters because of driving on the left side of the road.  the straightaways are easy but doing corners and roundabouts takes a bit of concentration!  Lots of errors but no real mishaps. We are getting ready to check out of this cute little cottage we stayed in last night in Nelson and are headed up to Abel Tasman Park where we have a little beach place near Pohara.

More later as we get the bike portion of the trip underway.