Wellington to Bleihnem (South Island)

Our trip down to Wellington felt very very long. We were unbelievable tired from our ventures the night before, and I was very thankful that it was Ashley's turn to drive! We stop off in a town called Woodsville and took a 3-4 hour nap in our car at a park. Once we made it to Wellington we were still very tired, and after much searching around we found a place to park, made a sandwich and went to bed.

The nest morning we, being the rebels that we are, snuck into a nearby campsite in order to shower (the first real shower I had had in few days). We also made ourselves some breakfast and discovered a TV room, which we made plans to come back to later. We then hit up a beach outside of wellington, but were very disappointed when the clouds and wind prevented us from leaving our car.

We had a very early start to the following day. We woke up at a quarter to 6 (or so we thought) to make it to the ferry for the South Island by 7. By the time we got driving there, we discovered that it was quarter past 7 (note to self: don't trust ipod clock ever again). Luckily we made the ferry, although I almost got trapt in the car for the 3 hour sailing because I had hid myself in the back of the car (in order to only pay for one person to board the ferry) and there were many ferry officers standing around our car when we boarded. Then an officer approached Ashley and told her she needed to go upstairs because they lock the area where the cars are. He stood there until she left, but luckily, me being the stealth person that I am, I was able to sneak out of the car and upstairs without being detected.

When we arrived on the South Island it was a beautiful day and so we rented bikes and set off to do some wine tasting at the vast amount of vineyards in the area. We had a great time doing that, although with the wind (and my poor physical condition), it was fairly slow going. We picked up a nice pino rose and headed out to a sheep farm owned by a friend of Ashley's mom. We arrived to nobody home, but Ashley had been told where the key was, so we went inside and made ourselves at home. Snow and Judith arrived home later in the evening, and were so friendly and interesting to talk with. Judith made us some diner, and we chatted until it was time for bed. As we quickly have learned, the kiwis are so friendly and unbelievably generous!!!

Link to pictures of the North Island: http://uvic.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2026911&id=122502204