The South Island

The ferry journey from Wellington to Picton took 3 and a half hours and that was followed by a loooong bus journey to Kaiteriteri. Me, James, Rachel and Alex had decided to spend 2 nights here as it was the entrance to Abel Tasman National park. We only got to the hostel quite late so couldn't really do anything too exciting but we did make fajitas which were awesome. The next day 2 of us went for a bit of an hours walk around some of the beaches and clambered over some rocks which was fun. We timed it right as when we came back for some lunch it started to lash it down and we were all feeling a bit tired so ended up having a duvet day watching Lord of the Rings. I am absolutely gutted that we didn't get into the park but the weather was just awful and it was expensive to get the water taxi to some of the walks. Abel Tasman is one of the oldest and smallest National Parks but is also supposed to be the prettiest. Hopefully I'll be able to come back in the future.
The next day we hopped on the bus to Westport and the weather was still horrible. The hostel wasn't too bad though. It was a really chilled independent hostel called Bazils and had quite a homely feel so it was nice. The worst thing was the cost of internet - $10 for a day is ridiculous! The others went surfing whilst I went for a wander about the shops. That evening we cooked tea and had a nice chat with some guys who were studying in Auckland and travelling in between. One of them was taking a class in the haka so we were all quizzing him on that and watching videos of classes and stuff so it was another relaxed evening.
The next day we headed out to Lake Mahinapua to somewhere called the Poo Pub. On the way we did a walk to a Seal Colony and there were quite a few pups. I really wanted to take one home as they were THE cutest things I've ever seen. The night was effectively fancy dress night where everyone got really drunk and bonded as a group. We didn't get out to see the beach or lake as it was still pissing it down. It was a hilarious night though and looking back at the pictures was a good laugh. It was a struggle getting up in the morning and on the way to Franz Josef we stopped off at somewhere called The Bushmans Centre. It was one of the weirdest places I've ever been and the people who ran it were off their heads. It was all about the introduction and history of deer farming in NZ but there were possum skins everywhere and it was just horrible.
We made it to Franz Josef eventually and its a town effectively made up of 2 roads but there are some fantastic walks and glaciers around.
The weathers starting to look up so touch wood it stays that way and I can get something resembling a tan!
Xxx

P.s the drivers are really cool too, check out Cuddles who got involved in the fancy dress!