Moving on to the South Island

Yes, we are now on the South Island.

After leaving Taupo we headed for Wanganiu by the Wanganui River coast way... It was a lot of gravel and about 40 km/hour for 64 km. But Jacob did a great job behind the wheels. The road followed the river and the scenery was lovely. When we hit Wanganui town it was quite dead... but the nice lady at the information centre helped us book the ferry to the south island. Since easter was heading.. it was quite booked already. But she got us in on the Thursday morning ferry. So, with that in mind we decided to head for Wellington as fast as we could.

Wednesday morning we got to Wellington and got informed that campsites are not to be found in the city... ok.. hostel it is! We found one with ok parking price and then went for a stroll in the city. Also visiting the amazong Te Papa museum. That got us tired and hungry and we found a nice little restaurant round the corner, Sweet Mothers Kitchen and got some food before the movie started. Yup, "Gran Torino" was shown and that movie was absolutely great... see it if you get the chance!!

The ferry to Picton(on the south island) was a bit rough... I was told it would be rough... and it was not pleasant but not as rough as I thought. When we left Wellington the rain was pooring down but when we got to Picton the sun was shining on us again.
Jacob had found this vineyard that served food and that was a very good idea to start the South Island adventures... some mussel soup and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc in the sun... perfect!

The day after we went to Nelson, but since it was easter everything was closed... we found a little cafe and we got something to eat. Although it was nice to have one day "off" just relaxing.

On the saturday it was Jacobs birthday and he got served a nice breakfast by the sea at 6.15 in the morning. By 8 we were in Kaiteriteri heading for a Kayak day-trip. The sun was shining and the sky was so blue. In the shade it was a bit cold but on the water in the sun... it was amazing. And the scenery a long the cost of Abel Tasman National Park was stunning.
The day included food and we got a nice pic-nic on a small beach. Of course we needed to plunge in to the water.. it was about 17 degrees...
The day ended with a nice dinner in the van with our Chilean wine!

We headed south west to Nelson Lakes National Park and went on an hour long walk along the lake. Beautiful scenery and lots of kiwis on their easter holiday.

Yesterday we got our first rain and visited Pancake rocks with our rain-coats on. Then we got to Greymouth were we took a tour on the local beer brewery, Monteiths.

Now we are going further south to the glaciers and are stretching the time we have left.

See ya!