Flying

In a rush of air, we tipped away from the platform. Strapped into what was essentially a comfy chair, wearing crazy hats for no particular reason, we set out across the forested mountains. This time however, we were not in a car at ground level, but over 150 metres above the canopies, with views over the mountains to pastureland glowing green in the afternoon light and even over to the turquoise waters lapping at the sand in a far away bay. It was so tranquil that high up and even at 92 miles an hour, the forward zoom of our flying fox ride was in no way, shape or form scary, just brilliant fun and a new perspective on the landscape we've been driving around so much. We took the ride at Happy Valley just outside Nelson, it is the longest zipwire in the world at 1 mile long.
It was excellent to fly over the treetops in the sunshine.

However, now it is raining again. Shocking, I know. We decided that Sunday deserved a special breakfast so we sat and made apple pancakes in the carpark, which attracted a few odd looks from early morning dogwalkers. Its a popular spot for random walkers - turns out we are very close to the geographical centre of NZ! Trust us to not realise despite reading through the guidebooks and million or so leaflets repeatedly. So we shall probably go and have a look at the exact center a bit later. In the meantime we had an issue: the darn car stopped working again. This time round, it was not even our fault! Nothing was on that should not have been, there was no logical reason for the car battery to have died. Logical reasons however, do not matter to cars. At all.
The AA guy suggested we get it checked out at an electricians, so we have to go first thing tomorrow morning. Luckily, we were not really planning on moving on instantly anyway. Our hopeful next destination, Abel Tasman, really depends on gorgeous weather so we are in no rush to leave for the National Park in the drizzle.
For the rest of today then, we are here in Nelson, hanging out in the library. This is good, as it gets us out of the car where we are usually trapped when it rains, and it also puts us in the path of books, which have been missed due to slim packing.

Oh! We finally opened the CookieTime packet and those cookies definately live up to their advertising promise. So good. Good thing they are the size of small plates, and come in packs of nine.