happy new year all. i already wrote this all out once and i ran out of internet time so it logged me out and i lost it all. so new years in wellington was quite good, i didn't make any plans and ended up going bar hopping with 2 people from the hostel. we didn't stand in line once and only paid cover at one place (five dollars!!) so unlike vancouver. and the best part, we spent new years day on the beach sun tanning and eating ice cream soooo good. I took the ferry over to picton yesterday morning. the ferries here are so efficient, the operate more like an airline: you buy a ticket online, show up and check-in half an hour early, and check all your bags (huge bonus!) they give you a boarding pass which you present to get on the ferry, the only thing missing is the security. there was even a cinema on the ferry, so for 14 bucks you could spend most of the crossing watching a movie. the crossing was only 3 hours, which i spent in the sun on the top deck. the scenery coming into the south island was gorgeous, all these green hills and little islands, with little coves and beaches, nice blue water and a handful of houses, that look quite expensive. i'm staying in picton until saturday, while i wait for the german girl i met to catch up. i think this is the nicest place i've been so far, although the fact that its gorgeously sunny might have an impact on that opinion. its not much of a tourist destination, the whole town is pretty much centered around a little bay where the ferry terminal is. its a tiny town, cute litte shops and all that a nice park and little beach down by the water, with palm trees all along, and surrounded by green hills. surprisingly the traffic from the ferry doesn't seem to impact it much. there's a dive shop across the street from the backpackers that does wreck dives, i tried to get in for today or tommarrow, but their all booked up, bummer. all the backpackers are full as well, funny b/c it doesn't seem like there's many people around. definaly a good place to relax for a while, a good first impression of the south island for sure. there was a couple people in my room last night whining about how cold it was in queenstown, but they were all aussies, its 44 degrees in perth at the moment apparently!! guess where i'm going next...
