Due South

Hey hey! I'm in the South Island now; Picton to be exact - I haven't managed to get more than 500 metres from the ferry terminal yet. I'm staying next to a grave yard on Gravesend Rd; in a hostel called the Tombstone (my key chain has a skull on it and the front door is coffin shaped).

The last time I updated my blog I was in Rototua/Dreamland which is more or less in the north of the North Island and now I'm at the north of the South Island; I didn't arrive in Picton by magic so let me tell you a tale of the inbetween times.

First of all I left Rotorua after sleeping off my concussion/head injury. The day was spent mostly driving - for seven hours - along the coast and arround the East Cape. There's not alot to do arround here except admire the scenery, and there's a lot of scenery, and walk about. So I did a bit of both, mostly admiring the scenery from the car while trying not to crash and stopping every so often to stretch my feet.

After a day of driving I arrived in Gisborn by night. I found a hostel that used to be an old nunery and went out for a walk arround town. Comming back in for tea I left my jacket on the back of a chair in the common room and forgot about it; when I remembered about it my jacket was gone - some git had nicked it.

Leaving Gisborn under a cloud I moved on to Napier - the art deco capital of New Zealand (most of Napier was destroyed by an earth quake in the 1930's and rebuilt in the art deco style). A day was spent surveying the town and taking in the sights. The next day I went for a swim in the outdoor pool and then partook in an afternoon's wine tasting tour of the Hawkes Bay wine region. This was unexpectably a top day, I drank some very nice wine, learned a lot about wine, and had a few laughs to boot - I've procured a bottle of very nice Cabernet Sauvingnon which apparently is entering its peak drinking phase.

Next onto Wellington the capital of New Zealand. Wellington is a pretty cool city. Situated on a hilly peninsula surrounded by oceans and mountains it makes for a pretty awesome drive into the city. The city itself has a very good feel to it, it's not too busy, but not too small either. It has a certain character that I felt was lacking in Auckland though I can't really place my finger on it.

Wellington is by no means a beautifull town, but it does have its moments especially if you escape the city centre - the reverse of most citys in that the downtown area is normally the most dramatic part of the city.

Two days were spent here exploring the city, walking the bays, climbing the nearby hills (they call them mountains but 300 metres to me will always be a hill), swiming in the pools, and visiting the Te Papa meuseum before catching the ferry accross the Cook Strait through the stunning Marlbourgh Sound to Picton.

Tomorrow some hill conquering awaits before heading further on down to somewhere south - though where I end up is anybodys guess.