On this day we drove from our campsite to Nelson for a wander around the town and cathedral - which was nice. Having picked up something for breakfast and lunch we then headed west to Abel Tasmin national park, which is one of the smallest national parks in New Zealand and the only one on the coast. It also boasts forest scenes from the Lord of the rings.... Not that you can get to see them if you have a
motorhome as the road is not accessible to such vehicles (to my disappointment). So we opted for a beach walk in the national park, encountering many windy 25km per hour corners on the way (it feels like the motor home is going to have a heart attack some times on the steep corners). Upon arrival we donned the hiking boots and headed off along the coast stopping for the occasional picture of strange rocks and caves....We then headed back for a nice indian that evening in the little town area of Richmond... (even Steph liked it)

The next day we headed over to Picton, again along a mixture of straight (fast) roads and some very bendy (slow) roads. Being the courteous driver that I was I did pull over a few times to let cars go past and it is very rewarding when they beep their horn in recognition. Feeling the love....

Anyway Picton is a lovely little fishing town and when we arrived the sun was shining - which was nice. After parking up at the holiday home we had a quick wander around the town area and I soon found myself sitting in one of the bars drinking a cold beer in the sun.

SH-I had other ideas however and wandered around the shops for a while picking up a few souvenirs before heading back to the campsite for a run. I am finding the distinct lack of gyms hard to deal with so am running wherever possible, usually in a different town or village each night which is nice.

At this point I also have to mention the public toilets I encountered as I thought they were fantastic! After pressing a button to open the door it shuts and locks behind you and an electronic voice welcomes you to Picton public toilets! After this you are told you have a maximum time of 10 minutes before the toilets open and, if you require toilet paper you should press the button on the wall and it will be dispensed for you. Then jazz music is piped through the speaker! When you are ready to leave you press the unlock button and the voice thanks you for visiting and wishes you a nice day-hilarious!

The next morning we woke early and I went for another run before we headed down to the docks to catch the ferry to Wellington. We were delayed boarding the boat as it was late docking but we eventually got called forward. Stephen did well negotiating the narrow gangways with the motorhome and we eventually parked up and headed up to the top deck. It was yet another sunny and warm day so we stood on deck for quite some time waiting for the ferry to leave and work it's way through the Marlborough sounds. This is renowned for being one of the more picturesque ferry routes in the world and I would have to agree with this statement. It made me think of Scandinavian fjords and Gulet cruises in Turkey-absolutely fantastic scenery.

I had always thought that the trip between the islands took about an hour but it was over 3 hours before we disembarked.

That day we had made the decision to stay the night as close to Wellington town centre as we could so we could have a night out without having to incur crazy taxi fares. Unfortunately the majority of the campsites are located outside the city in the lower Hutt valley. However, we had found a leaflet on board the ferry advertising a site in the centre of town so we thought we would give it a go for one night as it was right on the harbour. An interesting experience you could say. Essentially our home for the night was a car park alongside a busy road with nothing but a few railings affording us any security. We were a bit unsure about it all but decided to bite the bullet and slum it for the evening-I am getting used to that now!

We locked up and headed into the town centre, having been advised of the best area to go to. I was feeling a bit homesick on this particular day and also sick of eating out all the time so it wasn't long before I decided I was not going to enjoy the evening. We eventually settled on an Indian restaurant-always a gamble in the Southern hemisphere and I ordered Aloo Chat for a starter and Stephen Tandoori chicken. When they both arrived on the same plate I lost the plot slightly and pointed out to the waiter who didn't seem to understand the concept of vegetarianism that I wouldn't eat my starter if it is on the same plate as meat. He eventually took the plate away and another waiter wearing a fetching turban came over and apologised, pointing out that his mother is a vegetarian. They then made me another starter and we got through the rest of the meal without further incident.

After this we happened upon a pub called the Red Dragon, described outside as the only Welsh pub in the Southern Hemisphere. We walked in and were surrounded by Welsh flags, rugby memorabilia and signed photographs of Tom Jones. I decided to place our order to test the authenticity of this establishment. As soon as I opened my mouth the Landlord asked me where in Wales I was from and got very excited when I said Swansea as he was from the Dyfatty area. Anyway, he quickly presented us with his guest book which I had to sign and we then were invited to join him, his wife (also from Swansea) and several other punters from Port Talbot and Swansea for the evening. Poor Stephen received a lot of abuse when I mentioned that I now live in London and was accused of stealing a poor Welsh girl from her home, all very amusing! We decided to stay for the live music, a guy from Port Talbot who covered a lot of Stereophonics and the Manics which was great. Stephen made me laugh when he asked the singer whether he would ever move back to Wales. He looked at Stephen like he was insane and said "I'm from Port Talbot, have you ever seen the place?!"

Anyway, overall we had a great night.