I'm a little disappointed. I slept through an earthquake in Wellington, which happened around 2:15am, just after I'd got to sleep! The ferry crossing to Picton was interesting too, when apparently a huge wave hit us head on. I missed that too, though I did feel the whole boat jolt.

Nelson is a pretty nice little place. It's sunny and dry a lot of the time and it's just generally nice. Amy, Liz and I went along to watch the Christchurch Crusaders play the New South Wales Waratahs in the Super 15 league under a real oil painting sunset sky. I'd brought my little camera, but forgotten to put a memory card in it. Idiot.

The next day was a bit of a non-event really. I sat around a bit, wondered what to do with my spare time, tried to get people interested in hiring a car, then eventually booked a two day walking and kayaking trip in Abel Tasman national park. I also visited the "centre of New Zealand".

I was up before the crack of dawn to catch the bus up to Marahau to walk the 8 hours to Bark Bay Hut, where I'd booked to stay the night. It was a beautiful walk and the weather had been threatening to be sunny all day. It didn't really happen until later on, but the walk was nice even though it was high tide and I couldn't do any beach crossings. I was also able to put another dent in my camera courtesy of an accident near a waterfall. I met an Israeli chap and an English girl called Claire on the way. Claire and I spent the last of the sunshine on Bark Bay while I relentlessly took photos of the beach and a log.

After a surprisingly cold night in the hut, I got my stuff together and met the other kayakers on the beach. The kayaking was a lot of fun. We saw seals, birds, lots of sunshine and good times. The kayaking was fun, though I found the steering bloody hard to get used to! Our guide, Craig, even amazed us by creating cappuccinos using a gas stove at lunchtime. We set sail - literally - for Split Apple Rock for the last bit of the day by linking our kayaks together and raising our picnic mat as a sail to carry us there. Jo got soaked, which was funny as she seemed to not expect to get wet. When I splashed her, I almost certainly slipped... honest.