After a great 3 days in Kaikoura it was time to move on Northwards and i decided to head to Nelson which is a pretty central town at the top of the South Island. En route we passed through wine country Marlborough and it was fields full of grapevines as far as the eye could see. I guess this was the first time i missed having the campervan with my parents as we would have definitely stopped off there for a wine tour, however getting drunk on the vineyards yourself isn't really my idea of fun!
I arrived in Nelson mid-afternoon and checked in at the Tasman Bay backpackers (had to name check them as they do free chocolate pudding & ice cream every night - amazing!) My main reason for heading in this direction was to do some coastal walking in the Abel Tasman national park which looks amazing with white sandy beaches. Unfortunately after a good week of weather, luck wasn't on my side and i was told that rain was forecast for Wednesday & Thursday. Since it would have been a day trip for me to get there and $50 all in, i figured it wasn't worth taking the risk to go and have rubbish weather. I have learned my lesson from the Whitsundays and paradise can quickly turn into the pits when it's cloudy and raining. In any case i had quite a nice couple of days just chilling out. Wednesday was a complete washout so i ended up checking out a wee farmer's market (when i say wee, there were only about 8 stalls haha) then i went to this brilliant shop called the Bead Museum. I've been buying bracelets in every country i go to pretty much and i hadn't seen any i've liked in NZ yet so i decided to buy some beads and make my own - perfect rainy day entertainment! There was such a big choice it took me about half an hour to collect some nice ones and head back to the hostel. Luckily the hostel i was staying in was really cosy, they had a wood fire and comfy couches so i pretty much just vegetated there for the day making jewellery, reading and studying some Spanish. I met some really nice girls too so it was good to have some company for the time there. So far i've been surprised at how many people actually hitchhike in New Zealand, and girls aswell. I always thought it was such a dangerous thing to do but most of the girls i met in the hostel had been hitchhiking their way around and seemed to have no problems at all. In any case, i still wouldn't ever think about doing it by myself, moreso for the fact i like to know what i'm doing and where i'm going and at what time, and i would hate to be stuck somewhere for ages if no-one picked me up so i'll just stick to buses for the time being! (Ok i won't lie..i would really just have the fear of being abducted by a serial killer).
On Thursday the weather cleared up a little bit, it was dry at least, so i decided to take one of the free bikes from the hostel and go for a cycle along the coastline. I didn't go very far to be fair but i made it along to a sandy beach about 45 mins along and it was a nice place to sit and have a sandwich and enjoy a bit of sunshine. Someone had told me the rain was due to start again later in the afternoon so i headed back to the city centre and decided to go to the cinema. I stopped in at the supermarket to get some popcorn & sweets first and had a major panic when i locked up the bike and lost the wee key for it. I emptied my full bag outside the supermarket and there was no sign and i was just about to head back to the hostel and tell them i needed some pliers (i actually contemplated buying them in the supermarket but how dodgy would i have looked!). Eventually i triple checked my pockets, and found it in the "safe pocket" inside my jacket. Panic over! I ended up going to see the Hangover 2 and it was hilarious, they filmed it in Thailand and mainly Bangkok so it was funny being able to say i've been there. Afterwards i made it back to the hostel for my chocolate pudding at 8pm and had another early night, in bed reading by 9pm. It's been so strange here so far cos i've been heading to bed so early, but to be fair in the small towns there's not much to do other than go out and get drunk and i'm not really up for doing that every night so i'm now living the life of a granny.
That's me now heading over to Wellington on the ferry, just my luck the sun was shining as i left Nelson however i can't justify adding anymore days onto there and i'm sure there are more beautiful walks to come. So it's goodbye to the South Island - it's been amazing and i hope the North Island impresses me just as much!
