Day 38 - Sunday 2nd June - Ferry Crossing
Today involved an early start, a three hour inter-island ferry ride and a 3 hour trip from Picton to Nelson. However, aside from the long time sat down it wasn't such bad day. We had to be outside our hostel at 6.50am to take a shuttle bus to the ferry terminal only to wait about an hour for the ferry, however a particularly nice cup of tea hit the spot!
We got on the ferry and spent most of the time tucked away in a corner doing Aus prep thanks to the onboard Wifi, we looked at CVs and discussed what to do when we arrive in Australia on 13th June. We literally have no plans whatsoever!
Half way through the ferry ride we found the rest of the 'gang' and went to the top deck and took some photos of the scenery. We were sailing past some amazing coastline (due to the roundabout route of the ferry) and seeing some isolated houses. I couldn't imagine living quite so remotely.
We arrived in Picton and had to wait about 30 minutes for our bus to arrive to pick us up and everyone was a bit tired and a bit miffed at all the waiting around, but finally the bus arrived, as did our new group and our new driver. Greg is much more of a guide guide, whereas Kate was certainly more like one of the gang - a slightly different style but possibly more orderly and organised. I don't know we'll see. It was nice to feel like you are travelling with a friend rather than a tour leader. Anyway, we made a quick lunch stop at a random cafe in the middle of nowhere and drove straight through to Nelson. Greg drove us around a couple of places and dropped us off at the Tour Office so we could pay for our trip to Abel Tasmin national Park, we then finally arrived at our hostel.
The Hostel (Paradiso) is pretty amazing, and definitely the best place we have stayed in so far. It has a huge communal dining area, free breakfast, noodles, and a freshly made Vegetable soup for supper. It also has a swimming pool and hot tub in the back. A nice place to stay for two nights! We dumped our bags and pretty much headed straight out. Nelson is considered the centre of New Zealand and only 'a short hike' from the hostel is the centre point. It is up a great big hill overlooking Nelson. Only four of us went and the four of us didn't quite realise how steep the trek was up the hill. It was a bit taxing but worth it. the view was spectacular of the bay, the city and the landscape behind. We met some more people who would be joining us on the next bus out of Nelson who all seemed to be quite a good laugh. Should be a good couple of days.
After watching the highly anticipated sunset (a Danish fella was counting down), which was a bit of an anti-climax we headed to the supermarket. We needed stuff for dinner and for lunch tomorrow on the hike trail in Abel Tasmin. After the supermarket stop we headed back to the hostel to make dinner. The dining area was full of people tucking into the free soup and the free bread, but Kirstie and I fancied Fajitas so we sliced and diced all the veg and cooked up a storm. It was rather delicious actually.
After dinner we hung around the kitchen and checked the internet. I contemplated a lonely swim in the pool and a dip in the hot tub, as no one else was interested but I think I will pass and do it tomorrow. As I write this we are all set up for a game of pictionary and we may do some laundry. How glamorous, but as we have such an early start tomorrow for the park no one is up for anything more hectic. Looks like chilling out is on the cards!
One of the remote collection of houses... literally in the middle of nowhere. Not a starbucks or McDonalds in sight...
Animal rights people look away... look at these cows all cooped up in tiny containers... horrible to look at. I still like steak though.
Nelson from the centre point
The water... a nice arty shot from Kirstie...
The hike... Kirstie not looking so keen!
The view of Nelson from one side...
View of Nelson from the other side with the water in the distance...
The climbers... Danielle (UK), me, and Lara (Germany)...
The centre pin of New Zealand...
