The Crossing. Well, it was not the best time Errin has ever had - she looked a wee bit green, but the waves were HUGE and the ferry was tossed around quite a bit. Many cookies were being tossed at the same time, but Errin bravely held on to hers. It was not as bad as the sailing the week before - it normally takes 3 hours, ours took 3.5 hours....the one in question took 9 hours! By the time we got to the otherside (Land of the Hot Guys??), it was quite late so we decided to "park out" - Kiwi for spending the night on the side of the road. We're getting to be quite good park-outers.
It's always fun to wake up in the morning and find out where you really are. We had a spectacular view of one of the many bays here on the South Island. Beats waking up to the snow, don't you think?
Our next stop was Nelson, the hippie capital of the Island...must be something about the name....We walked around, took in the sights and decided which bar we would bring in 2007. The Victorian Rose, live bands all day and night. Seemed like the spot to be. It was. We had a great time, and look what we found....
Ta Nui was one of bouncers at the bar, really nice guy. Better than the drunken boys who spent most of the evening with us. Oh well, can't have everything. The actual countdown to midnight was a wee bit anti-climactic - no party hats, no streamers or balloons....awful champagne at a shocking price. But Errin and I made the most of it. Enough said.
We did pay for a campsite, but it was out of town a wee bit and since there would not be any driving after our partying, we decided to park in the town and hope for the best. We thought the car park for a lawyer was the best bet! For some reason our internal clocks will not allow us to sleep past 7.30 am, so off we went in search of a toilet (we thought the lawyer would not be too happy with a deposit..). Drove down the road, and there it was - the saviour of hangovers....
Yep, good old McDonalds......what better way to start the New Year, eh? And we were both in our PJs to boot. After a gourmet breakfast, we drove down the road and found a lovely beach to park by...and catch up on some sleep. Several hours later, we felt like a million dollars.
Our next stop was Kaiteriteri - a delightful little beach area on the edge of the Abel Tasman National Park. It was time to get active so we took the taxi, that would be a water taxi, up the coast and went on a walk for about 1.5 hours, to be picked up by our taxi driver at another bay. A brilliant system, which many people take advantage of. On the return journey we met Phil, and his 9 year old twin sons (Pearce and Kurt). Phil is the epitome of Kiwi hospitality and invited us back to the house they were renting for a beer. Well one glass of wine led to another, then dinner, and before we knew it, we were adopted! This is certainly the first time either of us have slept in a driveway before!! It was a great night and ruined our non-alcoholic resolution. Ha ha. Here is the whole clan - our Foster Family.
Sea kayaking is one of the most popular activities in this area, so we just had to take advantage of the opportunity. Luckily the skies got rid of most of the rain last night, leaving us with a beautiful day to go on our tour. How do you transport a whole bunch of gear, a ton of kayaks and people? Easy, just take the water taxi.....
We could not believe that we were going to get on that after they loaded up the kayaks. But we did. Nose up, off we went to our starting point. It was a fantastic trip and we even got to put up a sail on the way back when the sea breeze kicked in.
And that pretty much brings us up to the moment. As you can see, we are not having any fun at all.......
And as for the cute guy count.......so much better on this side of the country!!
Lots of love,
Joan & Errin
xxxxxx
1 comment:
what a delight! looks fantastic!
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