So having left Wellington on a rather wet and miserable day we had to take a 3 hour ferry journey over to the south island. Which if u can imagine was not very nice in rough conditions. we managed to find some decent seats in the bar and tried to get some sleep to pass the boredom, but to no avail. instead we sat and drank/chatted the boredom away. The views into the south island are usually amazing, but on a grey day its pretty dull so i didnt bother even going outside to have a look - i will save those pictures for the summer when i do the crossing again!

Anyways the reason im in such a rush to get over to the south island is that i have a job all sorted out in Franz Josef on the west coast - kinda of a cleaning/restaurant/bar job so its odd hours and not much money but its something for a month before i hit the ski season in the far south.

The northern part of the south island is stunning as you get more inland as the weather cleared up and attempted some sun when we hit Picton. The drive took us back along the coast and around to the Abel Tasman National Park where the bus usually stays for 2 nights so people can do the activities on offer, as i wasnt bothered with all that i skipped a day and jumped on the next days bus - im going to be coming back around again in a few months - im more interested in the money at the moment!

The drive from the national park took us along some gorgeous coastal roads and through the many mountain ranges and gorges that have carved there way along the coast. We stopped off for a bit to do a coastal walkway at Cape Foulwind which took in a few seals and there pups (altho, with my toe the way it was it perhaps wasnt the best idea to attempt this!) but none the less i did it and rewarded myself with an icecream at the end! It was actually a nice walk along the coast and at about 45 minutes not too long! Our next stop along the way was at a place called Punakaiki where the famous pancake rocks were - its a quick 5 minutes walk to the rocks and its basically a load of rock that look like a stack of pancakes - bizarrely :o) We then stopped off for a little lake stop where a few people went for a swim before heading onto our overnight stop at the legendary Barry Town.

Now Barrytown (known by many as baz vegas or barry no town) is not your average stop on the tourist trail. its basically a town of about 30 people and a pub. its at this pub where we all stay and basically as theres nothing else to do we all get drunk. I went to Barrytown last time i was over here 4 years ago and its exactly the same s***e hole as it was then. Our theme for the night was cross dressing - so guys as girls, girls as guys. We raided a charity shop in one of the little towns along the coast to pick up some supplies. i was pretty easy in what i was going to do - i already had my CSI t shirt from Vegas so i just got some little accessories to go with it and voila i was done!

some of the costumes were hilarious and to be honest the guys got into it a little bit more than we thought they would! anyway u can see the pictures for yourselves - all i can say is luckily we didnt leave the next day until midday - we were all trashed. but it was such a good night - and not one i think any of us will forget!!

Another little place we went to along the coast was Pukekura - again i went here last time with Stray - but tis such a unique place i was soo glad to come back. If only to try the possum pie - which actually tastes like chicken funnily enough. The guy who runs it has a rather odd sense of humour - the kind i think that Dad and Aunty Mary would get. I mean, you open the toilet door and ur faced with a full size picture of the guy with his pants around his ankles holding a shotgun at you. bizarre. And dont get me started on his pub next door - with delicacies such as road kill of the day (you kill em we grill em) its hard to even think hes being serious - but he is!!! its one of those places you have to see to believe.

So thats about it for the west coast so far! im actually in Franz Josef at the moment, so when i get a day off that im not hungover and actually get out and see the area i shall blog and put up some pictures!!!

till then!

xxxxxxx