Feb 10 Wellington to Nelson

We woke up early this morning, checked out of the Halswell and drove to the ferry to cross over to the South Island. We checked in at 7:25am, and drove our car on the ferry for a 3 hour ride to Picton. It started raining on the way there. We talked with a guy who drove a milk truck and was also a motorcycle mechanic. He was going to ride his motorcycle around the South Island for 10 days. He gave us some very good advice on what we should do when we finish up the south island after our Routeburn track hike.




Going into Picton, the geography is like a mountain range sunken into the sea, because that is exactly how it
was formed. There were low hanging clouds and fog, it was really pretty on the ferry through that region.




Katie and I went to the Picton I-Site (tourist info) and we changed our accomodations for the night after the Routeburn track. We decided to go for an overnight cruise on the sound instead of staying at the Milford lodge. It won't be a gigantic ship, and we will be sharing bunks with 2 other people (it's 4 to a room), but the advantages are that we get dinner, breakfast, and we get to stay on the sound after all the other cruise ships have left for the day.

We then drove towards Nelson where we were at a youth hostle for the evening. The drive we took is called the Queen Charlotte Drive, which follows the coastline and dips in and out of the many sounds along the coast. We stopped for a short hike down to a little beach.





Then we continued to Havelock a little coastal town that is billed as the Green Shell Mussel capitol of the world. So naturally, I wanted to stop and eat some green shell mussels, unfortunately it was 3:00pm and the "Mussel Pot" was closed until 4pm, and we had to get a move on. So we grabbed a quick bite at a cafe and rolled on to Nelson.




Our plans were foiled again this evening. After checking in to the Green Monkey, we wanted to go into town and eat Ice Cream at a place called Penguino in Nelson. We walked downtown and found that it, along with almost everything else in Nelson had closed at 4:30pm. Katie had picked this place out long ago, and was despondant that they were not open. We are leaving Nelson tomorrow at 7am to go for a full day Sea Kayaking, so there's no chance for Penguino Ice Cream in Nelson on this trip. Maybe we can find one somewhere else.

We checked into The Green Monkey youth hostel, which is extremely nice. We have a large bedroom, and free internet, a very nice kitchen, and a nice little black cat that is sleeping on our bed right now, which is making Katie feel a little better about missing Penguino's this evening.



Tomorrow will be a long day, and probably an internet blackout for the next couple of days, so sit tight, I'll catch up when I get re-connected.