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Published: February 23rd 2016
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We were treated to a fleeting visit through my old stomping ground Wellington on Monday night before catching the ferry to carry on our campervan travels in the South Island. We caught up with some of my friends with a few bottles of vino in the sunshine at my old workplace Foxglove. It was so good to see them, although the sun, wine and overexcitement obviously got too much for me as I had my legs in the air, dignity out the window, in abra kebabra (Rich and his bloody kebabs) by 9 o'clock post fainting episode. Awkward. I stuck to peppermint tea for the remainder of the evening and we chatted away at Taylor's till the wee ours of the morning.
We headed to brunch at Ti kouka, a quirky little cafe on Willis Street, the next morning with Taylor before catching the ferry to the South Island. It was so lovely to be back in Welly seeing some of my favourite faces and show Rich where I used to live. On the way back up the North Island we'll be staying there for a week or so and I CANNOT WAIT for that.
So here we are in
Marlborough Sounds
On the Bluebridge Ferry travelling from North to South Island the South Island! Halfway through the camper leg of our travels. We said goodbye to the North Island in Welly with its blue skies and hello to the South Island three hours later in Marlborough Sounds with rain clouds over head. And my god did it rain... We stayed in Nelson on Tuesday evening and it rained the entire day. They got two months rainfall in one day! There was a severe weather warning put in place, the works.. The worst of it was the sirens that sounded every now and then.. It sounded like something from WW2. Me and Rich genuinely thought it was a tsunami, we ran to the office when we first heard it scared shitless for the lady there to tell us it's real purpose, to call volunteer fire man and the fire service in when they are needed. Feeling slightly embarrassed at our overreaction the panic was over. Obviously on this day there was nothing much we could we do (we decided so anyway) so had a lovely lazy day. We went for coffee at a quirky little cafe attached to an art gallery where a string quartet was serenading us over our flat whites.
It was surreal but lovely. Then spent the remainder of the day watching Friends and chilling out in the campervan.
Next day it was like a different place the freak storm had completely passed! From Nelson we drove to Kaiteriteri a small seaside down that is the gateway to the Able Tasman National Park. We went on a 'Discoverer Day' cruise where we sailed the length of the national park, then got off and walked a section of the track for a couple of hours. The trip was fantastic, the guide was funny and informative throughout the whole journey giving us tons of facts about the park and surroundings. The national park itself was absolutely stunning, the scenery was beautiful and full of wildlife- we got to see fur seals & their pups and a blue penguin swimming along. After our cruise we were dropped off at Medlands Beach and walked three hours (10km) to Anchorage through bush and estuaries, with amazing views and landscape, before being picked up and taken back to Kaiteriteri where we were staying that evening on a campsite right next to the beach. It was a great day out and the perfect way
to see a beautiful part of the national park if you are slightly short on time.
Friday which was the 19th we drove on to our next stop Wine country/ Blenheim!! Stopping in Nelson again for the day, we felt that the bad weather hasn't done the town any justice really, we spent the day mooching round the cool little town and went to the WOW museum. The museum show cases entries to the World of Wearable Arts Show which is a fashion show held yearly since 1987 with the brief to create a piece of art that can be worn and modelled. It was amazing to see the designs and to understand the concepts and underlying meaning of each piece. Every one was different, wacky to classy and was the perfect way to while a few hours in Nelson. The attached classic car museum got Rich through the door and made sure we were both happy in making the visit. Arriving in Blenheim in the early evening we just chilled out and prepared for the big day tomorrow of wine tasting and vineyard hopping. It's a hard life.
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