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
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
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