Sat 29th Nov Wellington to Nelson
We managed to make the bus in time unlike a few unlucky people who we had to leave without so we didn't miss the ferry. Made it fine, left the bus at the port (picking up another on the south island) and settled ourselves down for the three hour crossing. I'd been carrying a freezer bag around with all our food in and took it on the ferry with us as I had teabags and milk and watching the pennies decided to make my own cup of tea with some free hot water donated by a nice lady soon we were all at it with Rich the driver asking for one too. Didn't have a full English breakfast in the bag though so had to buy that to get rid of the hangover (however refused to pay for ketchup sachets and used our own!) The crossing was over the Cook Strait passing the Queen Charlotte Sound, which was stunning to see but very windy on deck. I met some others on the same trip as us but with the rival company Magic Bus. This is where I met Drew, we had a good chat and he was in Oz at the same time as me so we agreed to swap contact details but I didn't see him again on the ferry as I went do some of my blog (I do try you know!). Asked Rich if I could use his laptop for blog and he said yes but then remembered he had to do a playlist for the bus so I helped with that (ok I practically chose all of the songs) and then there was only a really short time to do my blog.
The ferry stopped at Picton and we picked up a few extra passengers before heading off through the Marlborough Region, which is famous for it's sauvignon blanc. Stockers had kindly tried to organise us a wine tour at Cloudy Bay through work but when we realised how far it was from where we were we it wasn't really an option, which was a real shame. Lunch today was at the Pelorus Reserve where the water was so clear and some people went for a dip. We had ice cream here instead and everyone looked on in amazement at my ice cream eating skills as the ice cream dribbled all down my fingers, then my hands and arms as well as my chin. I just can't eat it all quick enough before it starts melting. Next time I'll have a tub not a cone. Before we left, a ranger came to speak to us about a type of algae that was spreading very quickly in NZ rivers and was becoming a threat to other plants and animals. He asked that if we were to go for a swim in one river we make sure to wash ourselves and any swimwear thoroughly before going into another one so as not to contaminate other water ways whilst they figure out what's causing it and how to stop it.
By the afternoon we had made it to Nelson, the gateway to the beautiful Abel Tasman National Park. Kate and I had decided to stay for a few extra nights here so we could do some trekking but we soon realised that most trips were only day trips and anything longer than that meant having a tent and all the other camping gear that we just don't have. We were staying at a lovely pub-come-hostel called Fern Lodge near the centre of Nelson, which was actually a lot smaller than I thought it would be. I shared a room with the girls and shared a bed with Kate to save money! It was called a Kiwi double, which I actually think just means, not big enough to sell as a double but ok if you're close to the person you're sharing with and don't mind being in a room with lots of other people. Once we'd dumped our bags and made our cosy bed up, we went for a wander around town and realised that even though it was a Saturday the place was dead. The town itself and the surroundings were pretty ...though I suppose you'd expect that from somewhere on the doorstep to a national park. The evening consisted of a home-made roast for some (I looked on in envy from my bowl of pasta) a few drinks and charades. This got more ridiculous as we ran out of films and I especially not being an avid film watcher, came up with some pretty rubbish ones like 'Scream' that unsurprisingly, were guessed within a few minutes. Eventually too much excitement meant we had to head to bed!