The South Island...

I woke up at 6 am (10th Oct) and made the 40 minute walk to the ferry in the freezing cold! After a bit of waiting around we boarded and the ferry left about 30 minutes late at 8:50. The ferry ride was interesting. About an hour into it an announcement was made that the sea was extremely rough and that everyone should sit down or hold onto hand rails. People were desperately grabbing sick bags and everywhere you turned someone was puking into one, this didn't help in terms of trying to contain your own sickness! Everywhere I moved someone would turn up next to me and start puking as if by magic. Anyway I managed to go the whole journey without feeling too sick but that was only because I stood outside in the freezing cold fresh air. Had I been in the air-conditioned section inside with everyone else I've no doubt I would have had to go as well. The scenery was amazing, and upon arrival in the South Island it was already clear this was going to be an island with more mountains than the North.

After dodging various bits of breathtaking landscape we arrived in Picton. After disembarking I met Fjord who had his daughter Jasmine with him. It was great to see him and he took me to various amazing lookout spots near the town. FJord then took me to his parent's house where he was staying. It was a pretty large house with an unbelievably relaxed feel about it. I loved it immediately. After making our own Pizza we talked for ages discussing our adventures before I was introduced to Helen and Bill (Fjord's mother and father, both must have been at least in their sixties as ford is in his 40s but they didn't look it). We took a drive to Blenheim in the afternoon and Fjord and me continued our conversation along the nice river walk there. On our return home we ate a very nice quiche made by Helen and then I was asked to 'sing for my supper' so out came my guitar and away I sang. Fjord's dad Billy absolutely loved my new song (a girl in a movie) and he must have asked me to repeat it a good 3 times! He had a good rave about it claiming it was going to be a hit, it was great to know I'd repayed his fantastic hospitality by giving him a bit of joy! The whole family was amazing, some of the best hosts I've ever had. Once Helen and Bill wnt to bed Fjord and me tried to add some new songs to my Ipod but failed and so we too went to bed.

In the morning (11th October) we just sat outside enjoying the sun. Fjord then drew me an awesome design on the back of my guitar as his signature before dropping me off at a good hitching spot to Nelson (he had to go see a friend of his). It took only 10 minutes with my thumb up until I got my first lift, off an Englishman who could not stop moaning about the UK and how inferior it was to New Zealand. He took me as far as Blenheim where I had a nightmae getting my next hitch. I stood there for 2 hours with my thumb up and everryone just drove past, as it was getting late now I nearly gave up on the mission of getting to Nelson and just stayed in a hostel in Blenheim. However then a guy with a van full of plants pulled over and said ''I've been karting these plants backwards and forwards and have never had any space for you but as I've seen you stood here for so long you can try and fit in amongst these plants'. He could only take me 10 minutes up the road to Renswick but it was a start. His name was Philip and he was from South Africa and he was one of those exceptionally nice people you often meet hitch-hiking! He dropped me off at a good spot to get to Nelson and said he'd check if I was still there once it got dark (It was getting pretty dark already) and if I was I could stay at his! What a nice man. 30 minutes later however and I had a lift as far as Havelock where a nice couple battling farmers to reduce carbon emissions took me all the way to Nelson where I arrived at 8pm. Having had my thumb up for 2 hours in Blenheim and nearly given up I was thrilled to have made it to my desired destination, it just shows, never give up!

On my arrival I went to Tasman Bay backpackers where I met my good friend Rodrigo again, it was great to see him. Him and 3 friends of his had already cooked dinner and offered me to just have some of theirs which was awesome! 10 minutes later and we were all laughing away. A Korean girl called Tina (who was pretty hilarious herself) found my usual French baguette joke and various accents hilarious and so all 5 of us spent the evening laughing away! It was a great night and I was sad that all except Rodrigo and me were leaving tomorrow as we had great fun together! Later I of course whipped the guitar out and sung a few tunes into the night. Griselda from Argentina particularly liked 'Blue'. Then it was sleepy time.

Next morning (12th October) I had the awesome all you can eat free breakfast at the hostel and then headed to town in the glosious sunshine (Nelson has brilliant weather due to the mountains battling off a lot of the bad weather apparenty). I needed new shoes (my others had fallen apart) and a jacket as I didn't own one at all and it was apparently going to get very cold further South. I succeeded on both fronts and headed back to the hostel. Rodrigo and me decided we'd get some beers and head to the 'centre of New Zealand' which was high up on a hill. A nice American named Justin from Wisconsin decided to join us too. So up we went guitars, beers and all! It took about 30 minutes to get there and the views from up there were amazing. We sat around drinking beer and playing guitar. I taught Justin how to play 'Walk Away'by Ben Harper at one point and about 2-3 great hours later when we'd ran out of supplies we realised it was 7.30 pm and the hostels free evening pudding kicks off at 8pm sharp. This was serious, we packed everything up and set off at pace back to the hostel, we made it there about 2 minutes late but luckily there was still some pudding left. It was delicious. In the evening another Swiss-German (from Bern) moved into my room so I spent a long time talking Swiss to him which was a rarity here in NZ. Following this Rodrigo inisted I play some of my tunes to some people so I did before heading off to bed.

The plan for the 13th of October updon waking up and wolfing down the free breakfast was to head to the beach! Once again the sun was shining and so this was the perfect day. Rodrigo had some stuff to do but he said he'd meet me there later so I grabbed my guitar and set off at around 10 am on my own. It was a good 40 minute walk to get there but it was worth it! Upon arrival I took off the flip flops and walked along the beach with the waves splashing my feet while listening to Jack Johnson. Ahhhhhh, heaven! I did this for a good hour before sitting down on a log, whipping out my guitar and playing some songs to the sea. It was amazing, I was so in the moment it was silly. I decided to continue the walk and before long some Brazilians were calling me over to have a jam with them. So I did just that! It was good fun until they decided we should play football, now this lot being brazilians I knew this wasn't going to be easy and I was correct. They were ridiculously good and made me look rather terrible. One of them was doing kick ups while sat on his lunch box as if it was nothing and everytime the bll got to me I'd mess it up some how, playing in the sand is really hard I realised! A couple of hours later the Brazilians left and Rodrogo text me to say he'd arrived with John (an English guy at the hostel). We met up and lay down in the sun (I was feeling pretty roasted having been in the sun all day without a drop of sunscreen so I lay under a conveniently placed tree root. When 7pm struck we realsised we had to set off now if we were going to make it back in time for pudding and so off we went, making it back just in time to eat the delicious pudding once again.

In the evening nothing was really happening so I decided I'd head up to the centre of New Zealand in the pitch black (the path there through the bush had no lights) with nothing but my guitar and torch for company. It was worth the slightly scary trek when I got there and had the whole area to myself, looking down onto the town with all it's lights was an amazing experience and it was in the centre of New Zealand, at 11pm in the dark that I finished (kind of) my song 'by the streetlights' that I'd started in Wellington.

The lyrics go as follows (they may yet be tinkered but this is the general vibe);

Down these streets lie heaps of broken dreams,
Or so it seems,

Girls, legins, plimsols, hiding souls,
A loss of control.

Guys shirts jeans, shaven clean,
A part of the scene.

I guess empty souls need filling somehow,
I guess empty souls need filling somehow,

I'm singing by the streetlights but everyone's asleep,
I'm singing songs of truth now but everyone's asleep,

Asleep on pillows of lies,
Asleep as my mind flies.


Spoilers, bumpers, ready for a fight,
They'll race you to the next traffic light,

Suits on phones, moving like drones,
As if they own the roads.

Intoxicated, aggravated,
Roses turned to thorns.

I guess empty souls need filling somehow,
I guess empty souls need filling somehow,

I'm singing by the streetlights but everyone's asleep,
I'm singing songs of truth now but everyone's asleep,

Asleep on pillows of lies,
Asleep as my mind flies.

Today (14th October) I was thinking of hitching further south but rain has ruined that plan so I will likely celebrate my birthday (tomorrow) here! Should be good...

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