A Great Day Out.

It has been a wonderful day today. We went on a full day trip from Nelson, to circumnavigate  D'Urville Island and back eventually to Nelson. It was run as a fundraiser with a local business providing a boat that usually plies the Abel Tasman Park. It was $100 dollars each and worth every cent. They did the same trip last year too. This year they are able to donate $8000 each to four different charities from the four trips taken over this weekend.

It is almost impossible to choose a photo as a Blip - we saw so many different landscapes and weather patterns. Most of the way it was fine but with some dramatic cloudscapes.  Turning through the gap between D'Urville and Stephens Island the sea got quite rough for about 20 minutes and the Blip was taken then of one of the many rocky outcrops. It is not raining, that is spray as we cut through the large waves.

Not much further on we came across what must have been a seething mass of fish. The sea was boiling with  seals and dolphins chasing after the fish and gannets, shags and terns joining in the action. The Skipper remarked that it was unusual to see seals and dolphins working together for food and unusual to see the seals leaping from the water dolphin style. There is a pic of two seals leaping in the extras - unfortunately not close enough to be a good photo.

We passed through French Pass where the huge volume of water dashing through a narrow space causes great agitation in the water and many whirlpools, As a child I travelled through French Pass when travelling to Wellington to visit my Grandma, but I had little recollection of the Pass - except it was always spoken of with awe.

I am at great risk of going on too long about the day. Blame it on tiredness.

Also in the extras is a view from the stern of the boat as we left Nelson in the morning, and one of the 'hole in the rock'.