The toga party spilled into the surrounding dorms and it was the loudest night I’ve experienced. I’m never that bothered unless I have an early morning. Everyday seems to be an early morning for me in New Zealand. It’s a new experience!
Liz and I got a taxi with Kerry, a fellow Brit from the bus who I hadn’t spoken to that much, to the ferry terminal. I slept most of the way and only stirred when a couple sat down behind me and violently knocked my chair. I received a feeble apology but I couldn’t understand why they chose to sit right behind me when the room was pretty deserted. I might have said something if I was more awake. I treated myself to some pancakes instead.
We got picked up shortly after arriving in Picton. To our surprise there were only five others on the bus – a couple and three other girls. I guess this will give me a good chance to test Mambo’s theory.
Passing through Picton, we stopped off in Nelson for a wine tasting session. It only cost $2. I didn’t like any of the wines. They were too potent for me. Obviously that’s a quality that many people like in an alcoholic beverage but I prefer to enjoy what I drink. Yep, I’m definitely turning into a pensioner.
Liz hopped off just outside Abel Tasman. We hugged and wished each other luck in our future travels.
Old Macdonald’s Farm conjures up memories of primary school assembly sing-songs but it turns out Old Macdonald does have a farm and it’s in Abel Tasman. It’s where we stayed for two nights. The setup was basic and the beds were awful but it wasn’t the worst place I’ve stayed at.
I decided to have an early night in anticipation of a kayaking and bush walk trip the next day.
*****
Waking up was hard…literally. The bed was so sunken it was practically a hammock. I couldn’t simply roll out of bed. I had to swing out like Tarzan. If that wasn’t enough to wake me up, a hairy spider crawled onto my foot. My squeal woke up the other girls. I kicked it off my foot and it scurried away. My skin crawled and I couldn’t stop shuddering. It felt like it was still on me. It was that point that I decided to shake out my boots to make sure I wasn’t greeted with any more surprises that morning.
It was yet another day where my bikini saw the light of day. It feels like I’ve been in the water more in New Zealand than in Australia!
We all packed on the layers to protect ourselves from the cold. I didn’t take any photos of me in a wetsuit. I have too many already!
As Hannah, my paddling partner, and I loaded up our kayak, our eyes diverted to another group preparing to leave. I’m pretty sure a chorus of harps, violins and flutes filled the air when this one guy walked by. Our hearts sighed. He wasn’t the first nor has he been the last ridiculously good looking guy I've seen in New Zealand. I thought my first couple of days in Melbourne were something to talk about but…damn!
This vision of beauty happened to drive us to the beach where we were to set off on our kayak trip.
Hannah is a physiotherapist and is a very athletically capable person. Although I’m not as fit as I was back home, I felt like I could handle myself on the water. That was until we ended up with a duff kayak.
Each kayak has a paddle on the back which leans left or right and guides your direction. The back seat of the kayak has peddles at the bottom which control this. Pressing down the right, moves it to the right and pressing the left moves it to the left. It’s a lazy way of guiding the kayak.
Whilst everyone else paddled haphazardly and others calmly with ease, Hannah and I looked like we were competing for the Olympics, yet we weren’t moving anywhere. We kept veering off to the right.
Our guide, John, came over to help and adjusted the peddles. I knew it wasn’t my driving! It was then that I got to speak to John a bit more in depth and found out that he’d lived and worked in York for 18 months and has spent time in London. I love meeting people who have visited my hometown. John’s not accustomed to city life so retreated back to New Zealand.
Despite John’s efforts, our kayak still didn’t work. Nobody took pity on us and everyone paddled off. We couldn’t hear anything that John was saying and I was concentrating so hard on paddling and steering the kayak that I didn’t get to fully enjoy the scenery and the beautiful weather.
As always, I didn't pack for the sun and forgot my sunglasses. It was still cold yet the sun beamed down on us. New Zealand has the perfect weather in my eyes. It's cold so you have to wrap up and be all cosy yet the day is incredibly bright and clear. It deceives you into thinking it's not that cold. It's only as you rush out and feel the cold snapping at your face that you realise that it's still winter. The air is so fresh it feels like a natural decongestant and so much so that it must be the cleanest air I've ever breathed in. I'd be happy if every day was like this.
John kindly let me borrow his hat. It topped off my already superbly sexy look. An over-sized flannel cap that kept slipping over my eyes wasn't the perfect solution but it did the job.
Hannah and I had a good moan about our kayaking predicament, and then Hannah piped up that things aren’t that bad and we should just go at our own pace and enjoy ourselves. Five minutes later, Hannah caved in and cursed our kayak.
You wouldn’t believe how thankful we were when we made it to the end. I pulled myself out of the kayak, waddled over and got changed behind some rocks. By the time I finished, lunch was served. I felt like Hannah and I deserved two lunches each after that workout!
Land!
This bush walk was a lot more enjoyable than the one I did in Fraser Island (Australia). Instead of spiders' burrow holes I was surrounded by lush greenery and fantastic views.
It was safe to say that we were all beat by the end of our walk. We all had things that we left behind at the kayak base so we walked back to collect them. This happened to be in the opposite direction to Old Macdonald’s.
Nobody seemed to know where our stuff was stored. I didn’t mind at all. It seemed that the nice driver from earlier was one of many lovely men that worked there. We all swooned like schoolgirls with a crush. Pathetic I know. One guy, who had piercing green/blue eyes, reminded me of the actor Michael Ealy. He not only found our stuff – ah, my hero! – but also agreed to give us a lift back to the farm.
Later on in the evening we made s'mores (toasted marshmallows dipped in chocolate sandwiched between two biscuits) and played Uno (card game). I can’t remember the last time I ate that much concentrated sugar. It felt like I’d face-planted a bowl of sugar. My teeth tingled in disagreement.
Sleep beckoned and I made my way across to my hammock for the last time. Roll on Punakaiki.
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