So we have done the North Island now and on to the South Island
19/6
We booked the ferry to the South Island today. We had to be there at 12. Once there we had to wait for an hour sitting in the car. Well I say in the car, the boys decided to climb out the sunroof and sit on the roof of the car. The crossin took 3 and a half hours. I felt a little sea sick when I had to get up and go to the loo but after that I sat outside for a bit and then felt a bit better. The ferry was really nice inside, we watched Game Plan to pass the time. Arrived in Picton and first impressions of the South Island, it's so cold!! Me and Emma tried to do a puzzle in the evening but it started getting late so we had to give up-much to the delight of the boys.
20/6
We had the luxury of a free breakfast at the hostel- naturally we all therefore ate more than usual. We then hit the really windy, icy and scenic road to Nelson. The car slid at one scary point. The boys went rock climbing in the afternoon and Emma and I walked around Nelson. We had tried to go to the water's edge but couldn't find it as the map we saw it on was way back in the other direction and we couldn't remember where it said to go! We got some free chocolate pudding and ice cream at the hostel in the evening!! We had planned on playing Pictionary but there was no paper/pens in the box so we just sat around chatting until it was time to go to bed. We were lucky enough to get a twin room as the dorms were filled with school boys, who decided to be really loud at midnight.
21/6
More free breakfast today, score! We had all been looking forward to the late check out but all got woken up at 8 by the school boys being loud, playing music and stomping up the stairs and corridor outside our rooms. We made it to Blenheim and went on a wine tasting tour. It took us ages to find a good hostel. All the ones in the town were full of travelling workers and didn't feel as nice as the ones we had stayed in in other towns. One that we had a look at smelt of BO and there was a puddle on the floor. We visited four wineries and a boutique chocolate factory. I now know that I really don't like wine. I gave up after 2 wineries and didn't taste anymore apart from a sweet desert wine at the last place. Disappointment at the chocolate factory as the samples were orange creme truffles and another one with nuts in, damn! So I treated myself to a champange truffle which was really nice and so worth the $2 I had to pay for it.
22/6
We left Blenheim-naughtily went to a cafe for breakfast. We headed for Kaikoura, it is one of the best marine life watching places in the world. On the way here, I saw a seal on the rocks and then a load more so we stopped the car and got out and there were loads down sunning themselves. It was soooo coooool! Me and Ell then did a walk in the afternoon across the Kaikoura peninsula and saw 2 more seal colonies. It was a nice walk with good views and cliff top views of some seals. Another exciting evening of cards awaited us all after a group curry for dinner.
23/6
Me and Emma went whale watching, after taking some sea sick tablets. good job we did as the sea was rough-other people next to us were throwing up. So amazingly we saw 6 sperm whales, they say that the average sighting in a tour is 1-2. At one point there were 2 together which was extra cool : ) There were more in the area but they had dived just before we got there. Got back to find the boys in a cafe. They couldn't get up the mountain road to go snowboarding. They were originally coming whale watching but decided that it was a lot of money for something they weren't that bothered about and the carrot dangling of the snowboarding was enough for them to not bother with the whales. We had a lovely dinner of pie, mash and gravy, so good! We also had the pleasure of the dorm to ourselves which was cool.
So that is as up to date as I can get you, you never know what might happen in the few hours that I have left of today (24/6)
xxxx
