Back in the USA!!!

Hello everyone!!! I am soooooooo excited to be back in the US! The last week in New Zealand was totally crazy with all sorts of activities, shopping and seeing people before I left. I can't tell you how happy I was to not sleep in a dorm room last night! I had such a wonderful time in NZ and made so many friends for life. My plan now is to spend a couple of weeks here in Kona with my grandparents and then head to AZ for about 10 days and finally back home to WA where I'll be hanging out with the family and looking for a "Real" job.

I hope everyone is well and thanks for reading the blog! I'll try and upload the rest of my pictures as soon as I have a chance!

-Lisa

Pictures of Blenheim and Napier

Pictures of Blenheim:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2305467&l=dcc90&id=10001326

Pictures of Napier:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2305471&l=87cc0&id=10001326

Beautiful Bay of Islands!!!

Okay so after almost the entire day on the bus yesterday, we arrived in Paihia (Bay of Islands) at about 6pm. We're staying in a cute little backpacker's called "The Pickled Parrot" where they actually have a pet parrot hanging around. The weather was supposed to be rainy yesterday and today, but fortunately it's been dry! The town is super cute and the bay is absolutely gorgeous!!!

But since we left Rotorua we've been to both Tauranga (Bay of Plenty) and Coromandel Town on the Coromandel Penninsula. We weren't having the best time in Tauranga (unfriendly people, no sleep in an 8 bed dorm the size of my room at home) so we left after 2 nights. Then we moved on to Coromandel Town (which is super tiny) on the Coromandel Penninsula. It rained almost the entire time we were there!!! But it was cool because we were able to hang out in a mostly empty hostel/holiday park/motel and relax! We were supposed to share our room with another couple of people, but since it was so quiet we had the room to ourselves! The second day we were there it rained so hard it was flooding the streets and I was afraid the power would go out. Luckily it didn't...but only in Coromandel. Apparently the whole North Island and a good portion of the South Island were hit by the storm too. The power went out in Auckland and one man died from lighting strikes while a school group of kids were lost resulting in 6 student and 1 teacher's deaths. Yikes!

Well, we have booked two day tours up here for the next couple of days: A Catamaran ride around the Bay of Islands with swimming, kayaking, snorkeling and other activities tomorrow and then a trip up to Cape Reinga and 90 mile beach on Sunday! Then we're off to Auckland for the last few days before we fly out!

In Rotorua

Okay so I'm going to quickly update what's been going on since we left Napier on Monday. But first, we were able to see Ed and Andrea one more time in Napier before Andrea flew out yesterday and who knows what Ed's doing. We quit work on Friday, after being completely miserable with allergies--my eyes were swollen, my throat sore and I could hardly breath! Yikes! So we left Napier for Lake Taupo on Monday. We just spent 3 nights there at a great backpackers (Rainbow Lodge) with comfortable beds and a dry sauna! Woohoo! The weather turned cold though, it felt very much like autumn. We basically relaxed and walked around Taupo for the 3 days.

This morning we left Taupo and came to Rotorua! The weather has warmed up (thank God!) and the town has a lot of shops, cafes and activities to offer. Today we're walking around checking out the souvenier shops, the lake and maybe the museum. Tomorrow we're headed off for a full day of walking around a couple of thermal/volcanic parks so that should be interesting! There are so many thermal spas and mineral pools around this area that it constantly smells of sulfur! The place we're staying tonight (Central Backpackers) is super nice though.

Okay well just over 2 weeks left in NZ! So I'm off to take pictures for all of you to look at!

-Lisa

Apples and Wine

Alright so we've been in Napier, which is on the North Island in Hawkes Bay, for the last week. Hawke's Bay is another well-known wine region of New Zealand. We started picking apples last week, but were only able to work for a day and a half. I know, picking apples? Well, we just need a bit more money to finish travelling the North Island. Of course the first day was just as crazy as the first day of work on the vineyard. My first day on the vineyard was ridiculous. I starved because Beate and I got split up and she had the backpack with all our food and water! I was also forced to sing my national anthem at 8 in the morning while I was snipping grapes off the vine. The first day of apple picking was just as crazy. I was up on the ladder picking red fujis when the guy on the tractor ran over my ladder!!! I fell off and screamed at the same time. Ha, luckily I was only a few feet of the ground so I didn't get hurt. Then the van that took us to work dropped us off at a different place in Napier and our rides almost forgot us! I had no clue where we were, so thankfully I had the number of the guy in charge.

We ended up not working much last week since the apples weren't red enough, so we had a few days off to enjoy the beach. Yesterday Beate and I went on a fantastic wine tour to 4 wineries in Hawke's bay: Moana Park (very small, vegetarian wines), Sileni (larger, we had a gourmet food platter and bought chocolates), Ngatarawa (tasted a ton of wines and ended up with a merlot/cab blend), and Mission Estate (which was the first winery established in NZ). We had a wonderful guide that was super knowledgeable about Hawke's Bay and he gave me a list of Syrah's (my fav. wine) from the area that I need to try.

We are staying here in Napier for another week and a half before finishing our travels on the North Island. I am loving this town even though our backpackers is super tiny.

These are the rest of the pictures I took in Christchurch:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2297175&l=2f059&id=10001326

Here are the pictures from Kaikoura:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2297170&l=48c7f&id=10001326

4 and 1/2 days left in Blenheim!

Alright so I've got a quick update for everyone still reading. The grape harvest should start tomorrow so Beate and I will be picking grapes the rest of the week! Then we're heading up North again. We leave on Saturday and spend the night in Picton again because Wellington is completely booked out...there's a rock concert! Then we head up to Napier which is in Hawke's Bay on Sunday. We're going to stay there for another couple of weeks and work picking some more fruit. From there we'll have a few days at Lake Taupo, one in Rotorua, one or two in Tauranga (Bay of Plenty), then a few in Coromandel, and finally up to Paihia/Bay of Islands before we end in Auckland! Less than six weeks until I'm off to Hawaii!!!

Everthing's been fine here in Blenheim, although we haven't had as much work as we wanted. We've met some cool people and read quite a few books. The weather has been sunny, although not as warm as we would like. We're excited to get moving Saturday though!

Happy St. Patricks Day to eveyone and an early Happy Easter too!

-Lisa

I'm exhausted!

Okay so this has to be quick...the internet is still a far away concept in Blenheim. They only have dial up at the backpackers! It took me half an hour the other day to read a couple of e-mails and reply to one! What did we used to do when we only had dial up?

Anyway, we're staying at the Lemon Tree Backpackers in Blenheim and working on vineyards. The work is easy enough, but makes us sore and tired at the end of the day. I'm extra tired because my allergies are really kicking in next to all these plants. Everyone in the hostel is working for some contracting company that sends people to different vineyards, so that's cool. We have to catch a bus at 6:40am and then we work up until 3 or 4pm right now. We'll start picking next week which will then be 10 hour days! Woohoo! Beate and I have decided that we can only take 3 weeks of this and then we'll head up to Hawkes Bay to do 2 more weeks (just in a different place for some variety) and then finish travelling the North Island before leaving April 26th.

I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update the blog over the next couple of months, so don't worry if I haven't written in a week or two...I'm probably working and the internet isn't!

Hope all is well in the U.S. I am looking forward to getting back!

-Lisa

Ready to Move on!

Alright so I have worked every day since last weekend at the University and/or at Sticky Fingers. The University job is super easy and not the most engaging, but at least the other temp workers are all fun to talk to. I just finished on Monday and was super happy to have the entire day off yesterday! We were able to hang out with Ed and Andrea last week a couple of times before they left. The last night they were here (Wednesday), we met them for a drink in Sol Square and ended up spending the rest of our crazy night with a "Stag Party" (aka. Bachelor Party). All of the guys were Kiwi's except the groom to be of course was from Texas! Ha, it was a hilarious night that ended well after 2am. The next day I was dead tired at work, but met up with Joyce and Jon for pizza one more time before we leave. We had some super crazy pizza flavours like The Roast with chicken, gravy and potatoes; and Chicken Tandoori with Indian spices! It was great to get one more glimpse of home which will have to last me a few more months!

The rest of the week went fine and everyone at Sticky Fingers couldn't believe I was leaving. Yesterday Beate and I took the tram around the city and we also took the Gondola up the hill to the lookout over Christchurch. It's amazing how much the hillside looked like Eastern Washington! I'll post the pictures later so you can see. We also went to see "27 Dresses" last night which was super cute! The Academy Awards weren't broadcasted here and I honestly don't know why...they don't have anything else on TV that's better!

So we're almost totally packed and ready to leave Christchurch tomorrow. We have booked two nights in Kaikoura and a whale watching tour on Friday. We'll get to Blenheim on Saturday and start the vineyard work on Monday! We are sooooooo excited!

-Lisa

Change of Plans!

Alright so this past week the temp agencies finally called and I worked at an accounting firm just answering phones and stuff on Friday and I'm going to work this week for the University helping students fill out forms. Beate's still just working weekends at the German bar and the weather still totally sucks here. I woke up yesterday with a sore throat and today with congestion and exhaustion setting in.

But the good news: We have finally decided to get out of Christchurch! We're not exactly happy here at the moment and I have to say I honestly don't like working at Sticky Fingers and the place we're living is a dump. So why are we still here? No clue! We've decided to leave next Thursday (because that's the day of the week we pay rent) and go up to Kaikoura for a couple of days and whale watch. Then we'll move on to Blenheim, which is in the middle of the Marlborough region which is known for wine! (Especially Sauvignon Blanc) There we're going to spend about 5 weeks working in some of the vineyards! We found a bunch of backpackers and companies that set you up with cheap accommodation and transport to work. We're totally stoked to get going and start another adventure!

After that it will be the beginning of April and we'll travel the North Island before flying out! I think the fresh air (and hopefully some wine-tasting as well) will do us good for the next month or so.

Other than that I have one more story: I had just gone to work last night and about 1/2 hour after I started I turned around and here were Ed and Andrea at the bar! Ha! We didn't even know they were coming into town and they didn't even know we were in Christchurch, let alone that I was working at Sticky Fingers! This place feels sooooo small sometimes! So we're happy to catch up with them later today since they've decided to stay here for awhile.

I also went out on Saturday night with a Dutch girl from work. We had a blast meeting up with some of her friends and acquaintances! There's definitely a crazy bar scene in this town; people of all ages were out! 18 (the drinking age here) up to mid 60s! Fun times!

-Lisa

Interviews

Alright so last Thursday night Beate and I were able to meet up with Vince & Greg for a couple of hours before they flew out to Australia the next day! I got off of work early and we all hung out in their camper van while Vince cooked dinner. It was great to see them again!

Beate got a job on Saturday working at a German bar in town. I've been working nights mostly at Sticky Fingers and I only occasionally work in the bar now. Yesterday (Sunday) Beate and I met up with Jon & Joyce again for coffee and a look at their little apartment/suite in Christchurch. Then Beate and I walked around the market at the arts center and listened to the Bagpipers at one of the parks. There's always something going on every weekend in this town, which is very cool.

I talked to some people last week about a marketing job when I get home, so that's been very exciting. It's with the accounting firm Moss Adams, and nothing's set in stone yet but they will probably have 2 positions opening up soon. I'm also going today at 1:30 to meet with another temp agency that sounds promising. I'm hoping they have something full time for me so I can make some money in the next couple of months before traveling.

We're staying positive while the job search continues!

-Lisa

We Found the Americans!

Alright so I am pleased to admit that I rooted for the Giants through the entire Superbowl! Woohoo! Beate and I found a sports bar called "The Holy Grail" and watched the game on a huge TV with pizza and beer. The place was actually packed with people, most of which were American! What a great game! I even saw a guy in the bar that had a WSU hat on! Small world!!!
I've been working at Sticky Fingers part time, usually Wednesday through Thursday and then over the weekend. They have me doing both bar and floor, but mostly floor. It's definitely weird compared to The Ponsonby, but oh well. Beate had a trial at an Irish Bar last night. They're supposed to call her later this week to tell her when she'll work next.

The weather has been all over the place here. Really hot one day and then the next is freezing! I could not get warm at all yesterday and today I'm wearing shorts! Vince and Greg (our French buddies from Ponsonby) are supposed to come into town today so we're excited to catch up with them. Today is also Waitangi day which is like New Zealand day. It's based on the formation of New Zealand so it's a public holiday. I'm sure alot of people will be out and about.

Back to the sunshine!

-Lisa

Tips!

So I'm not going to say that I like working at Sticky Fingers, especially since I was supposed to work in the bar last night and had to work the floor instead (2 people didn't show up). But...I made $81.50 in tips! Woohoo! That's a ton for New Zealand! It definitely makes it easier to say "Yes" to working the floor.

Over the last couple of weeks here in Christchurch, Beate and I have seen sooooo many people we know! We saw:
-A girl we met at the Monteith's Brewery tour in Greymouth
-The weird German girl we stayed with in Nelson
-The guy that cleaned the kitchen at The Ponsonby Backpackers before Beate got the job
-Chris, the guy that Beate and I went out with the first week I stayed at Ponsonby Backpackers
-Two girls we sat behind on the train from Auckland to Wellington
-A girl we stayed with in Queenstown
-Riyat, the head chef at The Ponsonby (where I used to work)
-and Jax, the new GM of Ponsonby!
Whoa! It really makes this country feel small.

On Wednesday (I think), Beate came back from her shower laughing. I asked what was up and she said, "There's a dead mouse in the kitchen!" Ewww! I walked past it on the way to take my shower and was incredibly disgusted! Can you believe it?! Yuck! Thank goodness one of the other roommates got rid of it.

Other than that, the week hasn't been too exciting. Today's very hot and nice out and I also don't have to work so we'll probably hang outside and enjoy the sunshine.

-Lisa

Job Hunting

Alright everyone I know I haven't updated in awhile, but it's because Beate & I are still looking for jobs. I pretty much have a part-time job right now at Sticky Fingers which is one of the restaurant's that is owned by the same company as the one I worked at in Auckland. I ended up doing a 2 hour trial shift on Saturday and then went back to help on Sunday for a few hours. I ended up working almost 7 hours on Sunday because it was so busy! It's a great place, but they could use some help in making things more efficient. I hope to only work there part time at night or on weekends and get an office temp job for full time during the day. I have an interview in an hour with a temp agency and I sent off a bunch of emails and registrations yesterday to other agencies. Beate and I figure that if we work really hard for 2 months, that is all it will take to have enough money to travel to the North Island.

This brings me to the plans: We plan on staying in Christchurch until the first week of April. Then we will travel the North Island and try and do some wwoofing (Working on Organic Farms) in order to save the cost of accommodation, for about 3 weeks. We both fly out of Auckland on Saturday, April 26th which is apparently a holiday here: Anzac day (something to do with the war). Beate will return to Germany, but I'm flying from Auckland to Sydney and then Sydney to Honolulu and finally Honolulu to Kona to stay with my grandparents and hang out in Hawaii for a month and a half! I'm thinking I'll probably get a job waitressing/bar-tending while I'm there. Then I fly home to WA on June 19th! I'm super excited to finally have things planned out and to be able to spend some time with my grandparents.

I hope everyone's doing well!

-Lisa

Dunedin & Christchurch Pictures

Here is the link to the pictures from Dunedin and Speight's Brewery Tour:

http://asu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2274623&l=f0928&id=10001326

And here's the link to the Pictures from Christchurch (so far) & Hamner Springs:

http://asu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2274630&l=2bafb&id=10001326

Getting Settled

Alright we've been in Christchurch since Sunday and have been trying to make long-term accommodation arrangements as well as find a job. We are moving into an "Urban Room" today where we'll be able to stay for the next couple of months while we save up to travel the north island! I'm also trying to get a receptionist job instead of waitressing/bar work this time just for something different.

On Sunday we met a gal that was promoting a new adventure/day trip company. She talked us into taking the "Hamner Hangover Cure" trip on Tuesday. We were picked up in the morning at our backpacker and then driven to Hamner Springs which is a small resort area a few hours inland. Hamner is known for it's hot springs/mineral pools so we were able to sit in those in the morning. Very relaxing! Then they took us up a canyon to the middle of nowhere (which looked alot like Eastern Washington) for a BBQ lunch. We decided not to do any of the activities in the afternoon that cost extra, so we just hung out in Hamner and back at the hot springs. Then we had a little beer schooling and tasted four of Matson's beers. Awesome! Then we headed back to Christchurch.

The great thing about arriving here in Christchurch this week is that they have The World Busker's Festival going on. It's a big festival with different types of street performers all over the central part of the city. We've been checking those out as well as getting a feel of the central part of the city. Hopefully we'll be working soon too!

-Lisa

Day Tours

Alright, now that I've found a reliable computer I can tell you what we've been doing the last few days! Our first day in Queenstown was rainy, but we spent it looking around and figuring out what we were going to do over the next couple of days. We also had to move hostels because the first one was a bit sketchy. We stayed at Deco Backpackers, which ended up being very nice and quiet with a fabulous garden area that overlooked Lake Wakitipu (I'm not sure about that spelling).

Tuesday, we took an all day tour to Milford Sound. We caught the bus at about 8am and didn't return until about 8:30pm. We took our time getting to the Milford Sound and stopped at a number of places along the way to take little walks, check out the view or get snacks. Our cruise started at 2pm and lasted about 2 hours. It had rained the day before so there were a lot more waterfalls than usual, but it was still cloudy so we didn't get to see the top of Mitre Peak. There was a lot of sitting on that trip, but we're glad we got to see the fabulous scenery!

Pictures of the trip to Milford Sounds:

http://asu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2271951&l=e6d19&id=10001326

On Wednesday we took our time getting up and went and had coffee while we marveled at how absolutely beautiful the day was! At 12:30 the little shuttle van picked us up at our hostel and we left for the best wine tour I've ever done! The weather couldn't have been better and we had a small group of about 7 on our tour so everything was very personalized. We went to four wineries: Gibston Valley, Waitiri Creek, The Winehouse & Kitchen and Amisfield. We tasted a TON of wines, especially Pinot Noirs, Pinot Gris and other whites. The Central Otago region of the South Island is known for it's Pinot Noirs, so you can guess what was the best! Beate bought a bottle of what's called Pinot Blanc (which is made from the Pinot Noir grape) at Gibston Valley and I bought a bottle of Pinot Noir from The Winehouse & Kitchen. They had 3 different labels there, but the one I bought is the Van Ash label. Then we bought a half bottle of the pinot noir from Amisfield...it is amazing! We had such a great time and definitely thought the trip was worth our money! We got back to the hostel just after 5 and decided to sit outside and enjoy some sun for awhile. We were planning on going out that night but then I got hit with the worst allergies I've had since being in NZ! I'm still fighting them too!

Pictures of the Wine Trail Tour:

http://asu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2272516&l=18247&id=10001326

Thursday we had a lazy day since neither of us slept much the night before. We rode the gondola up to the top of the mountain behind Queenstown and took pictures of the spectacular view. Then we spent most of the day reading and hanging out. We cooked dinner that night since it was our last night with Dennis. The next morning was early since we had to catch the bus to Dunedin. We arrived yesterday at about 12:30pm and checked into our grundgy backpackers called "Penny's". We took the Speight's Brewery tour yesterday since we heard so much about it, and it ended up being pretty cool and very thorough! We tried to find a fun scene last night, but didn't really succeed. Today we're just checking out some more of the city before we move on to Christchurch tomorrow. Dunedin is a bit weird to be honest. It used to be the biggest city on the South Island but now it just feels like nobody really cares about it anymore and they just let it go. Needless to say, we're totally fine with leaving early tomorrow morning.

Here are the pictures of Queenstown:

http://asu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2272526&l=18d67&id=10001326

Arrived in Dunedin

Okay this is going to be the shortest blog entry yet since this computer is older than Windows 95. Beate and I left Queenstown this morning and now we're in the neglected town of Dunedin. Sunday we move on to Christchurch where we think we'll stay for awhile. I'll update with all the pictures and details when we get there!

-Lisa

Links to the Latest Pictures!

Pictures of the Overlander train from Auckland to Wellington (I forgot to post them earlier):

http://asu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2269561&l=458c7&id=10001326

Pictures of Nelson:

http://asu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2270602&l=cfda0&id=10001326

Pictures of Abel Tasman National Park:

http://asu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2270613&l=c234e&id=10001326

Pictures of The Pancake Rocks and Greymouth:

http://asu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2270628&l=eac42&id=10001326

Pictures of Franz Josef Glacier, the town and some of the bus stops on the way to Queenstown:

http://asu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2270635&l=7be69&id=10001326

Whew, I'll upload the pictures of Queenstown after I take some more!
-Lisa

Just Arrived in Queenstown

Wow, we've been travelling a lot over the last few days and reliable computers have been scarce. Our last day in Nelson was spent on the beach with SPF 15. Apparently the hole in the ozone layer is above Australia and New Zealand so even if the sun doesn't feel very hot, it's super intense! Beate and I got sooooooo much sun! I guess that's why it was so hard to find SPF 15--almost everything is above 30! We are definitely tan now though!

We left the next day which was Thursday morning on a bus to Greymouth. Greymouth has a population of about 10,000 people and other than Monteith's Brewery, there really isn't anything there. We did the brewery tour the first night and we were able to taste 7 beers and pour our own! Then they took us to a BBQ which was included in the price and we were given a free pint of Monteith's! I'm not joking when I say ALL of the beers were fantastic! We wrote in the guest book "Better than Mac's!" It was really fun and definitely well worth the $25.

We stayed at the Global Village Backpackers in Greymouth which ended up being the best backpackers yet! They even had matching dishes! The kitchen had 4 stoves and 3 fridges and they had a big screen TV with tons of movies to watch as well as bikes that you could just take for a ride. When we were checking in Beate signed us in and said, "Dennis is here!" He had signed it right before us and we couldn't believe that he was staying at the same place! We didn't run into him until later that night, but he was totally surprised too!

Friday in Greymouth we just decided to hang out and do laundry and go to the supermarket. The weather in the morning wasn't all that great and it was nice to have a relaxing day. We made friends with a Dutch girl and then met up with her later at the Irish Bar in town for a few drinks. We met a lot of people in Greymouth and since we left, we've seen them all again in Franz Josef or now in Queenstown.

Saturday morning we left and went to Franz Josef which is a super tiny town about 2/3rds of the way down the West Coast on the South Island. It's famous for it's glacier. We stayed at a place called "Chateau Franz" for the night and as we checked in they gave us a free shot voucher and then proceeded to tell us that if we showed our key at the same bar we would get even more free drinks/drink specials all night! So that day we took a shuttle up to the glacier and did some small walks around the area and took pictures of it. We didn't go up onto the glacier (not super interested...I've been on one before), but we at least got to see it even if we were completely freezing and soaking wet by the time we got back. That night we met back up with Dennis and went to the Blue Ice Bar (I think that's what it was called) and had some pizza. Within a half an hour or so every other backpacker in town showed up for the drink specials too! It was fun to chat with everyone. I even met a guy from Couer D'Alene! (Idaho for all you AZ folks)

So we left Franz Josef this morning at 8am and took the bus to Queenstown. We didn't arrive here until about 4:15pm because of all of the stops we made! Every single hour we stopped! We're staying at a place called "The Resort Lodge" which is a bit grundgy but, whatever. We've decided to stay five nights so we can really see and do everything! It's totally a resort town and seems like a blast! We've done some exploring and found that there are a ton of people in town and a bunch of great looking cafes and shops as well as a number of outdoor activities we can do! I'm super excited to check it out!

I'll try and get the rest of the pictures up as soon as I can. For some reason we're having trouble finding internet cafe's that have computers with USB ports. I'll try and update more often!

-Lisa

Pictures of Wellington and Ferry Ride!

Alright so we're in Nelson right now because we kind of procrastinated in putting together the trip to Takaka/Golden Bay. We've decided we'll bypass that area for now (hopefully we can come back another time) and move on to Greymouth first thing tomorrow morning. Greymouth is about halfway down the South Island on the West Coast.

Our trip to the Abel Tasman National Park yesterday was great! It rained almost the whole time, but we definitely got to see a lot! We took a bus in the morning to Manahau and then took a water taxi from there to Tonga Island to see the seals and then to Tonga Beach to hike back down to Torrent Bay. They said the hike was supposed to be 3.5 hours and we arrived at the Beach at 12pm. We had to catch the 4pm water taxi (which was the last) back to Marahau in order to catch the 5:10pm bus, also the last one, back to Nelson. We were going along at a decent rate when we passed a sign that said "Torrent Bay 1 hour 45 mins". We literally only had that much time before 4, so we seriously booked it! We only stopped a few brief times in order to take pictures, but we definitely got a serious workout hiking that fast! We arrived one hour early, at 3pm in Torrent Bay and we were so happy to sit down and eat some lunch! What a crazy hike!

Here are the links to the latest pictures I have up:

Wellington Pictures:

http://asu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2268701&l=1333a&id=10001326

Ferry ride from Wellington to Picton Pictures:

http://asu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2268714&l=68994&id=10001326

Picton Pictures:

http://asu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2268718&l=4746f&id=10001326



-Lisa

Hello Nelson!

Wow what a crazy few days we've had! The rest of Wellington was great and we both decided we liked it better than Auckland. We had to get up early on Saturday and get everything together to catch the Ferry to Picton at 10:35am. It was a beautiful clear day and we were so excited because we had heard about the beautiful scenery on the 3 hour ferry ride! We took a ton of pictures and ended up with a lot of sun (luckily I had found some sunscreen the day before). The ferry was huge and they even showed a movie on board! But of course we didn't watch it because we didn't want to miss the Malborough sounds.

We landed in Picton a little before 2pm. We hauled all of our gear just a few hundred meters from the ferry terminal to the Atlantis Backpacers. Beate booked us a 12 bed dorm (wow!) that was really nice. After dropping everything off we were so hungry that we went in search of the closest place to find some food. We had the best chicken burgers ever and got to look out at the beach and green hills surrounding the town. We strolled around the cute little town which totally reminded me of Chelan (at home in WA for all you AZ readers). We then decided to put on our swimsuits and catch some of the sun before it cooled down. After awhile we went back to the hostel to change and check out the Saturday night scene in Picton. We started at "Le Cafe" and shared a bottle of wine while we watched a guy called "Panda" sing and play the guitar. He was pretty good--kinda bluesy--but we moved on to the Irish Bar we saw around the corner with "Jersey Bob." Somehow since I was the "token American" in the pub, we befriended Jersey Bob and before I knew what was happening I was playing the tambourine while I drank pints of Mac's Gold. After the bar closed (at 1am) we went with Jersey Bob, his drummer friend and two Kiwi's that we befriended from the pub to the only bar in town that was still open. It was definitely a fun night that left us "knackered" (exhausted) the next day!

We kicked back at the hostel the next morning and waited until our bus left for Nelson at 2pm. A windy 2+ hour bus ride later we arrived in Nelson. The hike to the backpackers was intense with all of our luggage...I think it was the best workout I've had in months! The backpackers we're staying at is absolutely amazing! We're in a 5 bed dorm and none of the beds are bunks! We're also in a separate little house from the big house so it's very quiet and homey-feeling. The hostel name is "The Palace" and we arrived just after the bakery dropped off a bunch of free sandwiches and wraps! So that was dinner and this morning they had cereals, yogurt and breads for us to eat! We had an early night last night because we were so tired.

This morning we got up, ate breakfast and left for town. The city/town is very artsy and super cute! There's a lot of great shops, cafes and bars around. We had some fabulous salads for lunch at this place called "Lambretta's". We also made plans for the next couple of days:
Tomorrow we're going to the Abel Tasman National Park. We have to take a bus to Marahau and then a water taxi up the coastline. We'll get to see seals and other wildlife and then take a hike/walk down the coast to another bay where the water taxi will pick us up! It might be rainy, but we just decided "who cares?"
Then we might be catching a ride with a German and American girl to Golden Bay on Wednesday...if they have room for our stuff! The beaches are supposed to be fabulous there!
Then we'll probably head down the West Coast to Greymouth.

I am still trying to load all the pictures, but trust me I have a lot! I'll keep taking them too! I might not be able to update for a few days though because the towns are getting smaller and they don't all have very good internet access (if any).

Hope everyone's January is going as well as ours!

-Lisa

P.S. Here's the link to the New Year's Eve Photos (Let me know if it doesn't work, I'm trying a new method of posting pictures):

http://asu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2267924&l=88ccc&id=10001326

Happy 2008!

Alright so I'm in Wellington now but before I go into the travels I'll give you a brief overview of New Year's Eve! We had a big barbeque where we all bought too much food (as usual). Bernie stood and cooked all the meat for literally 2 hours while the rest of us made salads and side dishes and got ready for the evening. We had such a fabulous time drinking and eating in the warm weather that we didn't even go out! We watched the fireworks from the backyard at the hostel and I popped a bottle of bubbles to celebrate the New Year. We ended the night relatively early (probably 1:30 or so) and I had to help Beate since she had a little too much to drink.

The next day we just lazed around and watched movies and packed. Wednesday morning at 5:30am came really quickly. Bernie drove Beate and I down to Britomart to catch the train at about 6:30am. We each have a few super heavy bags (as any girl traveler does, right?) and we were kind of worried that they were going to make us pay for having extra bags or more than 20 Kilos. Well it was the easiest check-in I've ever been through. We didn't even have to show ID! They just had us show the tickets and bring the bags to the baggage cart. We went and sat down and waited to get going. I have a bunch of pictures of the ride that I'm trying to load soon so you can see! The train took off at 7:30am and we got into Wellington at 7:30pm. It was a beautiful day all across the North Island and only became cloudy once we reached Wellington. I got up at one point and got some air and then a Sprite at the food court. By the time I sat back my motion sickness had kicked in so I spent the rest of the ride sitting or standing in one place. We got off for 45 minutes at National Park and had some lunch and fresh air. They also stopped at a number of places along the way to let people off or on. I was never so happy to get off and walk around once we arrived in Wellington!

In Wellington we got off the train, gathered our luggage and decided not to mess with the buses but to get a taxi to the hostel. We were exhausted from not much sleep the night before (due to watching Die Hard 4.0) and were starving since we hadn't ate for about 6 hours. Of course our hostel is on a hill! Ha, we definitely know how to pick them. We checked into the Rosemere Backpackers and the guy checking us in was from NYC. He didn't show us around or anything and told us our room was up 2 flights of stairs. He was nice, but definitely not hospitable. We lugged our bags upstairs to the room and caught our breath for a minute. Then we headed back down the hill to find some dinner. It was very quiet and empty in the city at about 8:30pm but we've determined it's because it's still holiday time here and everyone leaves during this week. We ended up going to this place called "Espressoholic" for dinner and had a fabulous meal that we couldn't finish because we waited too long to eat. I had tomato basil soup and some hummus with veggies and bread. Beate had some fabulous chicken and mushroom fettucine.

We walked back to the hostel totally stuffed. The walls are thin so it sounds like everyone is in your room and the mattresses are definitely thin too, but hey that's what you get when you stay at a hostel. On the plus side, the bathrooms are way bigger! We awoke to our neighbors chatting and people vacuuming. Then my cell phone rang, so it was time to get up at 9:30 (it should be anyway I guess). We showered and got ready for a sunny and warm day in the city. We walked all the way down to the harbour and had breakfast at a fabulous place overlooking the sailboats. I had a smoked salmon benedict that was unbelievably wonderful! Then we decided to checkout the famous Te Papa museum which is right on the harbour. The museum is huge and very kid-friendly. It was fun to walk through (and it was free!). We then went to Mac's Brewery which is almost next door to the museum! Mac's is a New Zealand beer that is all natural and very popular throughout NZ. I had their Summer Ale before and absolutely loved it so we decided to check it out. They didn't have any tours or anything so we sat outside in the restaurant and had the beer tasting tray! We tried Mac's Gold (Lager), Spring Tide (low-carb beer), Hop Rocker (Pilsener), Sun Dance (the Summer Ale), Sassy Red (Bitter), and Black Mac (dark beer). The red was definitely not my style and the black was too intense for how nice it was outside, but I definitely liked all the rest!

Then we decided to try and find the cable car to take us up to Mount Victoria which has the best view of the city apparently. Well this idea took us on a few miles long trek through the city where after a couple of hours we found the cable car track, but we didn't know how to get on it. We asked multiple very helpful people on our trek to find the cable car and in the end, we finally found that we had passed it about an hour before. We finally took the cable car up the side of the mountain and were rewarded with fantastic views of the city and the surrounding Marlborough Sounds. We walked around a little and saw some of the Botanical Gardens and then decided to head back downtown. We were walking back towards the center of town when we heard some music. We went to check it out and found that they were setting up for a free concert that was to start in about an hour! Hell yes! So we looked around the area and then went to the visitors center next door to book our ferry and check out the bus tickets for travelling around the south island. The gal at the counter helped us a lot and we were able to book the ferry (which was filling up quickly) to take us to Picton on Saturday and the Flexipass to get us around by bus on the South Island. By the time we were finished it was almost concert time. We went and found a seat in the crouded area and began to notice how much sun we had from the day outside.

Shivering from too much sun and 3 songs into a kind of crappy performance, we decided to leave and find some dinner. We ended up at a pizza place which worked out just fine. We were then both exhausted and ready to relax so we headed back up to the hostel at about 7pm. We hung out, read, talked on the phone and went to sleep after 10.

This morning we slept in and then headed out for a day of shopping, internet, and a movie. We saw "Death at a Funeral" at Rialto Cinemas--the one that plays the independent films. It was hilarious! I highly recommend it if you all want a quirky british film. We still have to go to the supermarket and then back to the hostel to make reservations for our bus trips so I'd better get going. I'll upload pictures later!

-Lisa