Christmas Eve in Nelson and Golden Bay

After our mountain bike ride on the Queen Charlotte Track, we hit the road again and drove to Nelson, a funky little place about two hours from Havelock. We had lunch and did a beer (for Zack) and cider (for me) tasting at a restaurant called Sprig and Fern (thanks for the recommendation, Kate!). Then we spent a couple of hours browsing in the stores and walking around town. It had a very hippie sort of vibe; it reminded me of Boulder, Colorado.





Next, we headed to our campsite for the night in the Golden Bay area of the Abel Tasman National Park. Like last Christmas Eve, we camped right near the beach. In this picture, I'm standing right outside the back of our campervan, and you can see the water through the palm trees.










We had chili for dinner (which also happened to be what we had last Christmas Eve!) and enjoyed our Saint Clair wine with strawberries and cheese and Makana chocolate. While we were snacking, Santa came around and handed out candy to all of the campers!










We later took a walk along the beach. There were several other people doing the same thing, so it was a festive atmosphere, especially with the music provided by a bagpiper. Because nothing says Christmas like a bagpiper on the beach, right?!

Also like last Christmas Eve, we had a beautiful sunset to enjoy on the beach. I'll end with two of my favorite shots from the night. I'm not sure if this was our last Christmas Eve we'll ever spend on a beach, but I wouldn't mind doing it again if it looks like this!

December 1 Down Under

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How does one spend a Saturday in Australia? Well, here's a little glimpse of how we spent our Saturday, December 1st, which is the first day of summer.

First, Zack and I walked to a nearby restaurant for brunch. Afterward, I stopped by the South Melbourne Market for some fresh fruits, vegetables, and our favorite Tasmanian salmon.

On the walk home, I checked out the monthly Bank Street Market, where I found these colorful flowers.

The weather was perfect, so Zack and I biked down to the beach and drank some ciders on the sand.

Zack jammed on his guitar for awhile, and at one point, he even had a little girl on the path above us accompanying him on the "drums." She was actually quite good at keeping the beat!




















I enjoyed catching up on some reading...

...and found the people watching to be quite interesting. I have no idea why this guy was collecting all these sticks. And you should be glad I spared you the front view. Did I ever mention that Speedos are called budgie smugglers in Australia? I will not elaborate on the reasons!










We met up with our friends Todd and Alena for dinner at a Turkish restaurant near the market. After a huge, authentic meal (Zack's Turkish coffee and gross Turkish delight are pictured here), we headed to a local bar for a drink and to play some cards to end the night. It's nice to have friends from Chicago who know how to play euchre!

So I'd say that was a pretty good start to our summer, eh?