Greetings from sunny Nelson! It's around 8 p.m. over here on Friday (3 a.m. Houston). Last night in my closet room in Wellington, 2 of the girls came to bed around 4:30, and would not stop talking and giggling. One of the girls talked about this boy from Holland that she hooked up with that night, and then I heard the other girl ask what about the guy she had hooked up with the night before. Kids today! Then one of the girls had bought an alarm clock and plugged it in and they decided to test the alarm as well. So not much sleep last night at all. The hostel was very energy-efficient; you had to plug in a room card to have any of the plugs working in the bedroom. Mine was plugged in to have the heater turned on last night, but since I left early this morning, I took my card out and watched as the girl's alarm clock blacked out and turned off. Eh, my bad. =P
I woke up to a dark and cold morning in Wellington, but after a 3-hour ferry ride through Queen Charlotte Sound, was greeted by sunshine and blue skies. But also bitter cold. So.very.cold. The ferry ride wasn't as pleasant as all that; crossing Cook Strait was "rolling" as the ferry worker put it, so I was huddled on a bar sofa trying to sleep, but I felt better once I got to stand on the deck and freeze my face and hands off.
After another 2-hour bus ride from Picton, where the bus driver kept interrupting on the speaker every few minutes to inject some kiwi trivia about the land, I arrived in Nelson, which is absolutely adorable. Probably the cutest town in New Zealand, and also the sunniest. I stopped by here for a few days the last time I was here, and I liked it so much that I had to give it another go. I'm even staying at the same YHA, which is still remarkably clean and cozy and reception is still as helpful as ever when booking trips for me. I booked a single room this time (for obvious reasons), but they put me in a twin room which is bigger but still charged me the price of a single. I heart South Islanders.
So when I was planning New Zealand I thought I was being smart by going after the peak tourist season ends, but now I see the trouble of 1) places getting snowed out and therefore inaccessible and 2) not having enough people to book an activity. I'm sure I'll get it right the 3rd time I visit. ;)
Just walked around town today. The streets are so small here there are no lights, just tiny roundabouts and pedestrian crossings. I took a walk up to the marker of the geographic center of NZ this afternoon - which is in Nelson - and all the mountain ranges are covered in snow - which I hadn't seen before. Then I had to make a trek to the grocery store to buy some fruit because it's certainly been a while!
Tomorrow I am doing a kayak/walk/aqua taxi trip with Kaiteriteri Kayak (www.seakayak.co.nz). I had actually booked with a different company earlier, but since I wound up being the only one booking they canceled it. Boo. So I'm going with the same company I went with before. Should be fun, but I'll have to wear polypropylene instead of a swimsuit this time! Tomorrow's my last day in Nelson, and then it's down further south to Christchurch, where I may or may not decide to geek out with some Lord of the Rings tour.
