This morning we got up at 6.00am (as quiet as poss, so as not to disturb Alex and the bloke in our room), checked out by 6.45am and were ready waiting for our 7.00am free ferry shuttle. We arrived at the ferry terminal about 7.30am and were luckily near the start of the queue to check-in, after us the line rapidly increased and annoying Nelson-girl pushed in with us and Jorste, how rude! By 7.45am we had checked in our rucksacks and on board the ex-channel ferry exploring the decks and sat down with a coffee. We left 5 minutes late, at 8.30am, and took some photos from the top deck before retreating to the inside lookout room. We spent an hour in the reclining seats area then headed back to the 'lookout' and ventured outside (back), in the glorious sun, to enjoy the breath-taking scenery of the Marlborough Sounds, which we had to sail through en-route. We made excellent time, arriving at Picton ferry port ahead of schedule at 11.15am, grabbed our bags off the conveyor belt (whilst 'subtly' starring at a JT look-a-like and singing the musical bit of 'Like I Love You'!) and waited for Dodgy to come round and pick us up.

We were on the new (uncomfortable - seats too close together and head rests that stuck out too far, straining our necks!) bus and on our way towards Abel Tasman National Park by noon-ish. We stopped off at Pelorous Bridge, en-route at 1.15pm, for lunch and a dip in the ice-cold, crystal clear waters. The hour flew by, as usual, and we were back on the bus (after a briefing about water hygiene by one of the rangers) and arrived in Nelson for a drop off and pick-up at 3.30pm. Luckily Nelson-girl DID decide to get off here (after chewing Dodgy's ear off!), phew! Then it was just under an hour to Motueka to get some provisions. Back on the bus by 5.30pm-ish and only a short drive to Marahau, on the doorstep of Abel Tasman NP, where we checked into the not-so-dingy Old Mac Donald's Farm (6.15pm). Whilst waiting to check-in we bumped into Hayley and Dan off our Oz Experience bus/es who had just arrived back from an overnight-er at Golden Bay. We grabbed the room next to the kitchen/common room (our back door also lead directly to the loos, sink and showers, so great location!) and set straight to preparing our lovely dinner of chicken satay and stir fry veg. We had an after dinner stroll, joined halfway by Jorste (the German dude) before enjoying a hazelnut coffee by the campfire, chatting with some of our bus/tour group (Kelly - Mancs, Adele - Belfast, Neil - Scotland) then attempting an early night in preparation for our sailing expedition, although all of a sudden it was 11.35pm and we still weren't in bed!