Small world, big comet

bed count: 67

Turns out that quite a few people in Nelson know Calum Maclean from Jura (Mary Maclean's son) who I remember from new years parties a few years ago. He lives in Nelson now and everyone from a guy in a local sports store and one of the owners of The Bug hostel knows him. Small world.

So - still in the same area and still sunny. We were back in Moteuka just north of Nelson for a few days chilling out and catching up with Matt and Trace again. We all went kayaking in the Able Tasman National Park, which was stunning, with clear waters and beautiful golden sand beaches. The sun was out in force and so were the cicadas and, in this kind of weather, it's hard to see why kiwis would bother going abroad for their holidays.

Turns out that Motueka is a great place to see Comet McNaught, which is currently passing this way. We tried to see it when we were up in Golden bay but, not really having a clue what we were looking for, we just got a crick in our necks and decided that, if it was visible to us it was no more spectacular than any of the stars we could see.

However, it would have been impossible to mistake the comet for a star in Motueka. Not long after the sun went down we were been able to clearly see a bright light above the horizon with a huge tail pluming out behind it. Pretty cool, especially since it won't be seen for another 85,000 years.

Back in Nelson now and making the most of the free internet before we head off this morning. Did a glass fusion workshop yesterday which was pretty cool. Made pendants, earrings, wall hangings, key rings and tiles out of recycled glass. Loads of fun and really easy.

Went out to the local for karaoke night last night and had a blast. Lots of cheesy music and dancing. V cool.

Heading down the west coast today to stay at the ominously named Slaughter House. It has a good rep though so we're looking forward to it, though we will miss the guys from the bug (and especially Yukon the crazy dog). Apparently the sand flies (like midges but worse) are really bad down the west coast, so there's that to look forward to...