Only two stops left in South Island, Nelson and Picton and by this stage we were becoming blasé about the beautiful scenery that we routinely drove through but once again the town of Nelson was overlooked by a hill and the its peak was the centre of New Zealand (so they claimed - We had to climb it at sundown, complete with camera to sate Heather's appetite for spectacular sunsets ; coming back down in the dark was interesting and vaguely dangerous. On our way to the hostel, we passed a bar (no we didn't) and stayed until about 1:00am, which is very late in NZ.

Our final night in South Island was spent in Picton (where the ferry port is) and we shared an apartment with a young couple from the Czech Republic who strangely had spent their previous five years working in Cork. On the way we stopped at Pelarus Bridge and River where parts of the Hobbit were filmed. Our walk through the surrounding forest with its unusual trees, easily conjured up images of Bilbo and his friends. From the riverside we watched a guy jump from the very high bridge - despite warning signs forbidding the jump as people had been badly injured in the past and two had died - Heather took some photos and e-mailed them to him.

The ferry to North Island took us through Queen Charlotte Sound, which was very pretty. Half way through the voyage we noticed a man who looked exactly like Hercule Poirot, right down to the waxed moustache - It reminded us of our own "little grey cell" in Christchurch and with that final thought, we turned our faces into the wind and left South Island behind.