Monday was the day we left for the south island. We had to wake up early to take the 3 hour ferry ride from Wellington to Picton. We had decided to be dropped off in Nelson even though it wasn't a designated overnight stop. This was our first time at a non chain hostel and it was worth it because there was free breakfast and soup for dinner. And we all know its always about the food ;) Nelson is the sunshine capital of New Zealand so we were looking forward to that, until we arrived and it was raining! We had an early night after watching a couple movies.
Day 25
Sunshine in the sunshine capital! We explored the town and tried walking to a beach but ended up just eating our packed lunch on a bench by the water because it was too far. We were told by one of the girls on the kiwi bus that Nelson was having an arts festival and that she recommended we go to the urban art show. The "New Zealand's Biggest Urban Artshow" was near our hostel so we walked down to the park mid afternoon. It was very cool with art ranging from school kids to Banksey pieces! I was really happy Kayleigh told us about it! Did my cultural thing of the day :) !
Day 26
Started off as a nice,sunny morning so we sat by the pool in shorts! Only like the 3rd time since getting to New Zealand surprisingly! We had booked a winery tour with Bay Tours that started at 12. We went to four wineries: Te Mania , Waimea, Brightwater and Milcrest. Our lunch stop was at Waimea, where Charlotte and I shared a platter filled with meats, cheeses and olives. Mmm..went well with the wine tastings! I definitely feel more educated about wine or at least New Zealand wine. For example, I actually don't hate all reds I just hadn't tried the right ones or that 2009 and 2010 were really good years for the grapes so you can notice how much better they are compared to 2011. I ended up buying a 2010 Pinot Gris from Brightwater that is still in my backpack waiting for a special occasion. Also did you know that our tastes change every 7 years...then it was the joke about thats why its called the 7 year itch haha. Anyways, after the wineries we had extra time so our tour guide also took us to a brewery called McCashins. We got to try beer, cider and vodka. They had very original kinda of vodka like fig, chili pepper and Mars bar. They also inspired us to put a package of Skittles in our vodka mmmm! Awesome day! We went back to the hostel and played cards and darts later on.
Day 27
Nelson is the site of the centre(north, south, east and west) of New Zealand. The centre is of course a 30 min hike up a big hill on a trail called ZigZag. Once we got up to the top we enjoyed views of Nelson and the Abel Tasman National Park in the distance. The centre of New Zealand was the most exciting part of the day because the rest was spent laying in hammocks and watching movies.
Day 28
Friday was our last morning in Nelson. We sat by the pool because it was another gorgeous sunny day. We had to carry our backpacks far to get to the kiwi experience pick up point so we stopped for lunch for a break at the locally famous Sprig and Fern. Once we got to the pick up point we waited for over an hour since the bus was late! From Nelson we went straight to Kaiteriteri about 45 minutes down the road. The beaches are beautiful here and I was very excited for the kayak trip we booked to explore the Abel Tasman.
Day 29
We woke up to a grey and rainy morning in Kaiteriteri. I thought we would have our kayak trip canceled because the whole point of the trip is to appreciate the views. After asking around we found out the kayak company wouldn't refund our money if we canceled. Not cool! So I called into the company and managed to get half our money back! I'm turning into my mother!
The bus left Kaiteriteri to head to the west coast of New Zealand. The entire west coast is home to only 40 000 people but also includes some if the best variety of views of the country. Our overnight stop was a small town called Westport. The bus driver organized for our group to meet at Cricheron Bar for drinks, killer pool and dancing. It was a pretty random night with a bag pipe band coming into the bar and then I got involved in my first girl fight haha not to worry though I just pulled off the girls hand who was pulling Jill's hair. Hilarious! It was a good night getting to know our new bus that we would be spending until Queenstown with!
Day 30
A short drive from Westport the bus took us to Cape Foulwind and Tauranga Bay where we went on a 45 minute walk to a seal colony! It is here that we are at New Zealand's closest point to Australia too. The coast is very pretty here! A little farther up the road we stopped at Punakaiki Pancake rocks. Charlotte and I walked the 25 minute trail around these rocks that have eroded to look like piles of pancakes. Next, the bus stopped in the biggest city on the coast, Greymouth. We were meant to get supplies for our themed party that night, which our driver decided to be tight and bright! Finally, we made it to our final destination for the day which is Lake Mahinapua at the Pu Pub to meet Les Lisle. Les is a crazy old man that has led an interesting life and has even been on 60 minutes! We were told the story that awhile back he started telling people he had a Moa in his shed. Moa is an extinct giant bird, kind of like an ostrich. Apprarently tv stations and journalist came out to witness this moa. When he went to reveal the moa he opened his shed door and all was there was a rusty old mower! As I said he is crazy! Anyways...the Pu Pub is in the middle of nowhere so most of us just walked to the lake and then to the Tasman sea. If you look out from the beach there is nothing between there and South America! Once getting back Les and our driver, Rich made us steak, venison stew and salads! After dinner it was time to get ready for our tight and bright party. Charlotte and I attempted and semi succeeded at making Post-it and cling wrap dresses hahah! Can't say that's not tight and bright! And just when you thought we couldn't fit anything more into one day...it was the rugby world cup finals!!! We all crowded around the one and only tv in our outfits to watch the All Blacks beat France 8-7. Woooo! Almost as good as Canada winning the gold medal but I just wish we were in Auckland for it! Also, I won the pool for guessing closest to the final score! $50 richer!
Cape Foulwind
Pancake Rocks
Tight and Bright/Bad Taste Party at Pu Pub
This morning starts with a drive to Pukekura to visit the Bushman's Centre. The centre is a museum about hunting and trapping in New Zealand. The cafe here sells possum pies too...yuck!! This place was random with not only possom pies but had funny quotes and articles posted all over the cafe.
Going south we get to Franz Josef glacier village. The glacier walks have been on every New Zealand to do list I've seen so in order to check that off we booked a full day hike for the next day!
Day 32
RAIN RAIN RAIN! Franz Josef was meant to get one third of England's annual rainfall in one day. This isn't unusual for the area since it is surrounded by rainforests where it rains for two thirds of the year! All 4 layers we were meant to wear all got soaking wet! But about the glacier walk...it was a 6 hour hike in cramp-ons (spikes on the bottom of your feet) going through caves, icefalls and small crevices. There is tons of blue ice which we learned is condensed ice.Cool! The glacier is 12 km long and it descends from the Southern Alps to less than 300m above sea level. Franz Josef is one of only three in the entire world to do so. CHECK! After a day of being wet and cold we all went straight to the glacier hot pools across from our hostel. Warmth and sitting amidst the rainforest was pretty fun! That night we went to Monsoon bar while I'm almost certain there was a monsoon happening outside! Highlight of the night was the Rock, Paper, Scissor competition! Didn't win the prize though :(
Day 33
Wednesday we started out early to stop at Lake Mathison. The lake is known for it's perfect reflective surface. Unfortunately we didn't get the full effect since some clouds were mostly blocking New Zealand's highest peak, Mt Cook. Charlotte and I were determined it was going to clear but after a half hour wait we had to get back to the bus. We still got a few good pictures! This was the last we would see of the coast as we now headed through the scenic Haast Pass. The bus stopped a couple times for picturesque moments and a stop at Thundercreek Falls. We stayed in Wanaka, a small quiet version of Queenstown. There was a thing on our list to do in Wanaka and that was to go to Pardiso cinema. This is a famous movie theatre for having couches and a car to sit on and having an intermission when they serve warm chocolate chip cookies. It didn't even matter what movie we saw because it was more about the experience. But we did see a British film called The Trip.
Lake Mathison...what its supposed to look like
Driving the Haast Pass
Queenstown is the next update! We spent 6 days there and did some fun things like jet boating and bungy jumping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.
Anais Nin
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