South Island

So we are no longer in the North Island. The crossing on the Interislander ferry was pretty uneventful except for one thing, which I will come to later. The weather was no different than the previous few days which meant the seas were pretty rough in places. Even on the huge ferry we bucked and swayed. I was kinda hoping I’d get to see a few people loose their lunches but I guess they must’ve all been hiding up on deck or had taken their motion sickness medication. The one amazing thing we did see was a huge pod of about 200-300 dolphins! I was engrossed in my book (the final part of the Stephenie Meyer vampire series) with my ipod on (listening to Fast Freddy’s Drop, if anyone is interested) when there seemed to be some sort of ruckus at the bow of the boat. I hadn’t heard the captain announce that there was a larger pod of dolphins on the starboard bow. People were suddenly all jumping up and waving people over to the huge glass window, so we headed over too. It was abso-frickin-lutely awesome! So many dolphins all porpoising through the rough seas in front of the ship. I ran back to my seat, grabbed my camera and sprinted to the back of the boat. As I got to the stern I noticed a few dolphins straggling behind but could only just about make out the big pod off in the distance. I squeezed off a few pics but there wasn’t anything worth keeping. I stood and watched as the pod dissolved off into the distance thinking what an awe inspiring sight I had just seen whilst people walked past me muttering that they had never seen such a big pod of dolphins. I wondered if they were all chasing a big shoal of fish. Or had finally decided to make a co-ordinated attack on our world, like in that episode of the Simpsons.

As we entered the Queen Charlottes sound, (yes, that’s really what it is called, and given the chance I’d much rather work at this Queen Charlottes!) the weather suddenly changed for the better and by the time we moored up in Picton it was blue skies and warm temperatures all round. We wasted no time at all in getting to our campsite, getting changed into shorts and heading back into town. Picton is beautiful. It’s nestled at the end of the Queen Charlottes sound with big green mountains on either side. It’s a small place with a population of 4000 and just a small high street with a few bars and some restaurants. It didn’t take us long to find somewhere to stop for lunch. We sat out in the sun with our cold alcoholic beverages and relaxed. We then went for a game of mini golf which was fun but we also got eaten alive by the tiny black midges they have here. We spent the rest of the evening itching, scratching and stinking of cat wee as the bite cream we use has high levels of ammonia. Nice.

During the night, probably due to alcoholic beverages, I had to go for a wee. On my way back to Biff I stopped to check the sky and it took my breath away. It was such a clear night I’m pretty sure I could see just about every star there is. Found Orions belt and wondered if I could see up his skirt as I’m now on the underside of the world and technically upside down. Not being an astronomy expert I couldn’t remember which way round he was in the Northern Hemisphere anyway. While I stood in the darkness debating which way up Orion was I heard a small meow from beside me. I looked down and saw a little black cat. I asked it what it wanted but it didn’t reply, so I just gave it a little stroke and walked back to Biff. The little cat followed loyally behind me all the way back and when I got inside, the little cat looked like it was just about to hop in with me. I debated whether it was a stray, as they have a big problem in parts of NZ with stray or feral cats, and if we could keep it as a pet. Sense got the better of me and I shooed it away. I lay in bed thinking about how cute that the little cat was and how sweet it had been to follow me, but then remembered that I stank of cat wee and it probably had a lot to do with that!

The next day we had intended to hire some kayaks and explore the Queen Charlotte sound but after a substantial lay in, a late brunch, checking emails and us being really slow in getting dressed, we had left it too late. So we decided to have a few more alcoholic beverages and sit in the sun again. Not a bad way to while away a Wednesday, I suppose. I could get used to this not working malarkey. Maybe I’ll go on benefits when I come home!?

We had planned to head straight to Murchison but after a bit of deliberation we are now in Nelson. I have made plans to meet up with Debbie (Kiwi) who I used to work with and we are supposed to be going out tonight, no doubt for some more alcoholic beverages. Nelson looks awesome and I’m a little gutted that we have only allowed one day here but we plan to come back later in the year when it’s less hazardous (long story, sigh). So, we will still head down to Murchison tomorrow but might carry on through to Westport which is back onto the West Coast again. I love the West Coast because they get all the cool sunsets. Just wrote a postcard to my Nan, as I’m not sure she will be reading this. Man, I only wrote a few lines before I got bloody cramp in my wrist! Guess I haven’t really written anything down in nearly 2 months! Whoa, that is bizarre. I usually have wrists of steel, what with all the..........er. Chat soon.

Peace

D

xxxx