Week 5: Abel Tasman: This week is brought to you by the letter ‘B’.

This week is brought to you by the letter 'B'! Beaches, Bays, Boats and BBQs!!!

That just about sums up what we’ve been up to this week. We arrive on South Island and head straight up to Tasman Bay just south of the Abel Tasman Park (very near the top west corner). The weather is beautiful (for the most part) and we are ready for some relaxing and outdoor lifestyle. We have a quaint little house in the middle of nowhere, with no Internet, no phone or mobile reception and only two TV channels! Yes, we are definitely feeling isolated! It is surrounded by fields and sheep, has a beautiful ‘English Country Garden’ and an outlook over the Tasman Bay.

It is not difficult to slow down here. We spend the first few days exploring the area and coming home to BBQ fresh steak and delicious fish – all of which are cheap as chips.

We find a great little beach (lower Katiteriteri) that for the most part we share with a maximum of ten other people.

We break up our indulgent respite with a boat trip around the Abel Tasman coast, exploring beautiful bays along the bay. It is then time for some hard work as we’re dropped off part the way through and set off on a ‘tramp’ (hike) through the park from one bay to the next. It is pretty basic up here, but the views and the tramp are a real treat - forest-laden mountains and craggy hillsides that drop straight onto the golden beaches and azure-ocean below. With that under our belt, we feel justified in slowing down again and it’s not long before we’re back on the beach! It’s been a hard, hard week.

The seals on the local islands were in vehement agreement that all this relaxing is hard, hard work!

This week was brought to you by the letter 'B'.

Next week will be brought to you by the letter ‘C’ – Christchurch!