Sound the retreat

Saturday 20th. A bright sunny morning and breakfast was laid outside for us. 

We then drove through the mountains via Havelock to Nelson. Here we met up with the first real traffic for some weeks and encountered out first traffic jam! Nelson is right on the coast and we stopped at The Boat Shed for a short break. 

We wish we'd stopped for lunch as the menu looked amazing. Unfortunately we were still feeling the after effects of breakfast and promised ourselves a stop here on our way back. 

After that we drove up Takaka Hill. All the signs say Hill but if you look at the map, the road looks like strangled spaghetti and the contours aren't much better! For Hill read Alpine Pass! 

We took another break at Hawkes Lookout which looks all the way back to Motueka and Nelson. 

Then on through Takaka, toward Collingwood. Just before Collingwood we turned off the main road onto a gravel track that led to Ao-Marama Retreat. Here we were shown to our cabin with a beautiful view over Golden Bay. 

The retreat is on a self-catering basis with communal cooking area, toilets and showers. Very much like the old setup at Othona but, because of the climate, more open to the elements. The retreat was a former Buddhist monks retreat and the couple now running it are English. It's a small world! 

The first night we just sat watching the sun go down.