Heading to the South Island, NZ

Wellington

Wellington is the most southern city on the North Island, it is also the capital of NZ, and the namesake of wellington rainboots ("wellys"). I have never seen a big city with so much character. There is a long walk along the waterfront full of sculptures and "writer's walk," a collection of quotes people have written about the town. It was like an Easter egg hunt walking around finding the next line. We spent a couple hours at a museum called Te Papa (Mauri for Our Place). The museum was six floors full of history of the island, information about the plants, animals, and people. Some highlights included a mock earthquake house, a preserved colossal squid, Brian Blake photography exhibit, and an underwater 3D movie.

At night, we found another free Christmas celebration (either we are lucky or this country has a lot of free holiday events). This one was an elaborate production called "carols by candlelight." It was put on by a local radio station and involved hundreds of people, dancing reindeer and a donkey, a tree lighting, and Santa arriving on a helicopter.

We also got lucky in finding a cute resteraunt featuring $5 gourmet pizzas. It was delicious, And we learned that this city has more resteraunts per capita than NYC. In cities, we have found it easier to stay in hostels then campgrounds because of the transportation cost. Here, we heard the loudest snoring I have ever heard. It sounded like a steamroller a foot from my head. Neither of us slept much, and spent the following day in a daze waiting to catch the ferry south.



Ferry to the South Island

The ferry between the N and S island looked more like a cruise ship than the ferries at home. It was four levels and contained a resteraunt, bar, playground, and movie theater. We were on the boat for three hours and quickly became thankful for the size of the ship, as it was becoming very stormy. We had a nice relaxing time sitting in the lounge staring out at crashing waves and steep cliffs. Mike had a local beer and a bag of minted lamb potato chips and played Angry Birds while I had chocolate and wine while listening to Eddie Vedder and Fleet Foxes. Once we landed in Picton, it was dark and we found a campground and went straight to bed.



Nelson

Nelson reminded me so much of home, which was good because we were beginning to feel a bit stressed and homesick for a day or two. We stayed in a wonderful little hostel called Paradiso. It was full of backpackers playing guitar, skyping their families, and throwing darts. They even offered everyone a complimentary pouch of top ramen when you checked in. We spent some much needed time enjoying some comforts of home by calling our parents, watching an episode of Friends, and indulging in some McDonalds French fries (a nice break from our diet of PBJs, canned tuna, and apples).

We woke up feeling back to normal, and took off for the Saturday morning market. The market was exactly what I pictured it to be, full of local artists carving jade and bones, tons of fresh produce, merino sweaters, sheepskin rugs, and so foodcarts with friendly people offering mouthwatering local specialties. We had eaten oatmeal for breakfast every day, and decided our first purchase would be a breakfast crepe full of bacon, eggs, cheese and pepper. It was also gluten free, and not the more expensive, bland tasting kind, the recipe they used just didn't contain wheat. We found a picnic table, a knife, and two plastic forks, and enjoyed it so much that our neighbors probably thought we hadn't eaten in weeks. I bought a small fish hook bone carving and made a necklace, and we also bought fresh peaches, blueberries, and venison jerky (good, but Tanner yours is better).

After the market we went on a hike up to the center of NZ. It was steep and we quickly burned off the mornings' crepe. The trail was went through the woods, and appeared pretty standard until we ran into an older lady creating a mythical fantasy scene full of unicorns and fairy dolls hanging from trees. A few feet from her was a stuffed toy rabbit tied to a tree with a sign saying HELP! Funny what you find in the middle of the woods. The view from the top was beautiful, it overlooked the clear sea of Abel Tasman National park and the city of Nelson.

Westport

On our way to the next spot, we stopped at a trail with a hike to a seal colony viewing platform. Giant waves crashed on cliffs everywhere except a small cove that hundred of fur seals call home. We got to the viewpoint and watched as the babies explored and swam and the mothers barked and lounged in the sun. After awhile we decided to hike back to our car and walk around the beach for a bit. The sand was black and warm with loud crashing waves. Mike went exploring in some rocks while I walked in ankle deep water looking for Hectors dolphins. I was having a nice stroll thinking about how much I had enjoyed watching the seals and secretly wishing I could have gotten just a little closer to them. As I was thinking this, I saw some movement that looked like a seal waving. I told myself it was just my imagination and kept going, when a large wave carried the object closer. I looked again and sure enough, I was now five feet away from a 300 pound fur seal, and he was coming closer. I took a few steps back, called for Mike and grabbed my camera. The seal was very curious and watched us for several minutes. He crawled around the beach a bit then barked at me and jumped back in the water. It was an exciting encounter and I no longer wish to get any closer to them :)

We continued our drive down the windy roads to Westport. I'm sure Westport is a lovely place, but it rained so hard for days that we couldn't see anything around us. We had high hopes for sun, and booked a campsite. We now know never to book another campsite in the rain. We still enjoy our car overall, but that night I hated it. Our blankets were wet, it sounded like we were inside a giant steel drum, and mosquitos swarmed in and dive-bombed our ears all night. We slept a couple hours tops.


Paparoa State Park

The next stop was a national park known for a huge blowhole, stacks of flat rocks called the pancake rocks, and a cliff opening called the chimney pot because it appears to steam when waves hit it. It was exhilarating to see such powerful waves, but we were sleep deprived and the storm had gotten worse. We hiked to the lookout, but got soaking wet and cold from 50 mph gusts of wind (we are getting better at converting km to miles...) We didn't last long before finding a warm cabin at a campsite with a hot tub to hibernate in. After getting some sleep, we took advantage of the campground's other attraction, the jumping pillow! It's like an inflatable bouncy house for adults. So fun.

Next up is a brewery tour and sunset beach walk in search of penguins. Hopefully everyone is doing well at home, the closer we get to Christmas, the more we miss you! Love, Megan and Mike