Alright you daft b*****s? 

So guess what... I'm now in the South Island... I say 'I'... Because me and Moses have in fact gone our separate ways... For a little bit! Don't panic parents! We haven't argued! We've just got slightly different thinking patterns... Mine's a little abnormal... Without sounding like a complete tosser, I fancied myself a little independence. Turns out I'm not completely crap at getting about after all! ... Was a proper, sweaty, little traveller by the time I got to the Ferry Terminal... But hey! I made it! 

Wellington was alright. Pretty snazzy City to be fair, and they did Banana Chips, so it gets a big thumbs up from me. Was tempted to go shopping... buy me some nice clothes rather than washing my dirties... I've developed some kind of sweat, cloth cake in the top department of my rucksack... The recipe is easy. Soiled clothes... Sweaty gym gear, underwear, socks... Roll together, squish into a tiny compartment in your chosen rucksack... leave to ferment, and fuse together off it's own accord. I'm scared to open it in case something Alien jumps out and eats me alive... It's going to smell isn't it? ... Brilliant. So yeah, I've got that to look forward to. 

 After a McDonald's coffee & coke chat, me and Mo are going it alone for a little bit. In the meantime... We decided to hunt for a gym together to let off some steam. Wellington had a 'Les Mills' gym that looked pretty swish. Asked how much it was for a day pass, they were asking for $25, which actually isn't unreasonable as swish gyms go... However, that could've been another night in a hostel... Or a decent serving of Nandos. So I ask if there are any other gyms about, like a proper stingey Sam. The lady directed us to 'Snap 24 Fitness'.
Moses and I agreed, "If it's anymore than $20, we're out."
We find it okay... But I'm pretty sure I confused the people enjoying their workouts by entering a 'Fire Exit'... Smooth. Any who... We speak to the gymbos there. We filled out a form... And they put us on a 3day FREE TRIAL! Seeing as we were b*****ing off the next day... Seemed appropriate! Haha SUCKERS!! 
I've been working out... Going for runs, and when the hostel bedrooms are free, I do my ab, legs and arm workouts whilst no-one is looking (to save being branded ' the crazy one'... if I'm not already). Found a couple of gyms in Auckland (as you know) But this was brilliant!! And we didn't have to pay a penny for it! Nice work. 

Got sweaty. Glazed. I ask Mo if he fancied doing some boxing. I think he enjoyed it. We used a free area and got hit up (haha, 'hit'... eurgh) with some boxing mitts and focus pads. Moses got all Rocky Balboa on me. 1,2! 1,2! Jab Cross! Hook uppercut!... He then decided, very quickly, that Chilli Cheese Nachoes were a bad idea before the gym. 
I used the boxing bags... Got way too excited. Went bare knuckles on it... It was only after I noticed red dots in the punch bag, I had in fact taken a chunk out of my knuckle. Numbed my knuckles I did! So yeah... Now I have Django hands. Thug Fingers. How elegant. 

As our last night together, before departing, we decided to go to a Curry House for dinner. Was bloody good. Better than packets of noodles or jam sandwiches. I had real pieces of chicken! And herbs! 

Think I needed real food... My dreams were starting to get weird. I had this one where I was hanging out with some Maori Tribe... They were all doing their spiritual thing. I was determined to learn and enjoy their performance... But the whole time there was this tiny, red snail that kept making me laugh. He was just jamming out on a leaf... But he kept muttering to himself. In my dream I was in hysterics! So much so, that I woke myself up laughing. Lucky I was leaving that morning... Think the other dormers think I'm mental. 
I'm not sure if that dream has a second meaning? I'm not sure I want to know... 
 

Anyway... So that's my current, mental state. Probably did Moses a favour by separating. Give him a break from my damaged brain, and weird ways. 

I made my way to Picton. Arrived there in good timing... The Sequoia Hostel bus picked me up from the Ferry Terminal. I was bussing with another British lass, fairly old Bird... But was fun to speak to. She was originally from Brighton so we had a giggle about it being the gay capital. We also had this LA woman riding with us. From previous experience, I've learnt that it's a smart choice to avoid the LA citizens, as they tend to be mentally challenged. She had a crazy look in her eye this one... So I avoided. 

This Hostel was awesome. So cosy! And really quite quaint... always wanted to use that word. Was greeted by this English chappy. Showed me to my room... and also told me that they served free hot chocolate pudding and ice cream, every night at 8pm. Sod buying dinner! Saved up my hunger stores for the pud!! Met a nice couple of girls who had paired up through meeting up whilst travelling. One British, called Robyn, the other was a girl from California called Shell. Was really nice to share some female company! They both were lovely. Told me the cool places they had been to in Australia and New Zealand. 

The town centre is pretty basic... couple of bars, pubs and restaurants... I had a wonder down towards the harbour. The views were stunning. So I snapped up a couple shots like a proper, nerdy tourist. Could've sat there for hours taking pictures... but you lot would probably get bored of misty mountains and water... and green, and more green, and trees... and mountains, and green. It's quite green here to be pretty fair. 


The weather turned pretty crappy, was like being back home! Though it rained all bloody day... and it still looked beautiful! Decided to plan my trip further. Nelson was only a couple of hours away. Seemed very arty, and crafty! Right up my street! They also had a lot to say for their kayaking, beautiful beaches and treks! So yeah, I was sold! Booked up for the intercity bus the next day, and got myself a Hostel booked up for a couple of nights.

Woke up in the morning, again, RAIN. I was cold... got everything sorted and made my way to the pick up point. The bus was a bit late... 50 f***ing minutes. Nah it's alright George! Of course I didn't mind waiting in the cold, hard rain... silly bus man. He was quickly forgiven when I saw the beautifully, stunning vineyards, farmlands and absolutely breathtaking forest! We trudged up 350m high mountains, round these huge, curvy roads, around the mountains. It's cringing me out how much I keep saying these cheesy adjectives, but I can't emphasise wow stunning this place is. It's magical. 

We finally arrived in Nelson. To my surprise, it's a full on City. Nowhere near as big as Wellington or Auckland, but it's still not what I expected at all. From the pictures, I assumed it would be like a little 'Shire' type place, with a couple of workshops, carpenter shop maybe a Blacksmiths... No Heather. These people are not from the middle ages, you nitwit! 

Got picked up by the Hostel shuttle bus... We all squidged right in! On arrival, the lady gave us a map of the place, free Wi-Fi code, the key followed by a free packet of noodles. HahahaHahaha! It's alright Mum! I'm getting fed! This place is awesome. They also have free soup and bread in the evening, free breakfast, free tea and coffee, free swimming pool, sauna, hot tub, table tennis, volleyball, pool table and Movie room that's situated inside a cosy school bus outside by the swimming pool. So cool. 

So I've made some new chums... Jan, the German and Donna who I've met in the Paradiso hostel I'm in right now. They invited me to go to the Centre of New Zealand to watch the sunset. We drove up there, walked up this mountain of a hill, till we finally reached the pinnacle... WOW. Again, with the adjectives... I'm not even going to waste my typing on them. There are literally no words to describe how this view made me feel. The pictures I took don't even do it justice. 

We also took some pictures of us pissing about posing... quite entertaining. There were a Canadian couple up there too! We spoke to them for a bit. They ended up inviting us along to a paintballing fiasco on Saturday. Seems there a whole army of them going up. So that could very well be happening on Saturday... I've never tried it. They are going to point and laugh at me I know it. 

The German dude is cracking me up already. As we were walking up the mountain... I commented on his sturdy footwear. He then showed me the side of his boot... 

"Yes, good boots. But I've melted the side of them."
Jan shows me the melted section of his boot... 
"How did you do that?!" I asked
"My shoes were wet, so to dry them off, I put the shoe in the oven."

I f***ing died with laughter. This kid was brilliant. I was crying... couldn't walk properly where I was laughing so much. In the time that I've spent with him... I've realised, his driving is so funny, if you were to put a donkey inside a pedal cart, the results would be very similar to what I saw on our drive up there... And he's just so random. Has a longboard skateboard thing that he picked up on his travels... We all had a go on it after watching the sunset, and we were all dire. Was funny. Very funny. 

Got back to the hostel, just been chilling with some of the other dormers. Met a Canadian girl called Robyn, a pissed kiwi dude and a couple of other dudes, Luke and some French guy... Think his name's R'humon... Yeah, I agree... that doesn't look French, does it? 
Decided we could club together and do a BBQ burger night tomorrow, after we're back from the hike... Sounds like a plan! 

Quote of the Day 

Anything the German dude says... he's friggin hilarious.