Day 13:
Up early this morning to get packed up, eat
breakfast, make lunch and hit the road for Napier. Although long, it was
another beautiful drive. Kick started the trek with a stop at “Candyland”, a
little side road chocolate shop. Whenever we’re together we have a rule that we
can’t have chocolate for breakfast unless we don’t have class or work that day.
Since we’re on vacation we were golden; chocolate covered hokey pokey
(honeycombs) and chocolate peanut slabs. So delicious. We kept driving towards Napier
and must have seen a dozen rainbows. We have literally seen more rainbows in
the last 4 days then we have in the last 4 years. It’s crazy. Another thing
there is a lot of, sheep. Sheep everywhere. Hills of sheep around every corner.
Our estimate is that there are more sheep in New Zealand than people, or at
least an equal amount. We haven’t had luck with wool things yet though. Where
is all the sheep wool going?!
Arrived in Napier in the early afternoon
and checked into our hostel. Napier is one of the wine hotspots of New Zealand
so it was fitting that we made our way to the National Wine Centre. Here we did
a “virtual wine tour adventure”. We were taken into an aroma room where we were
able to smell 50 odd scents that are used when describing wine. After this we
went into the theatre and watched a video of 6 different vineyards. Each clip
showed the wine maker describing a type of wine we had in front of us so we
could sample it at the same time. Very different to any wine tasting we’ve done
before, but very cool and convenient since we were unable to get to the
vineyards individually.
We left the wine centre with a bottle of
red and a bottle of white and went to a little Irish pub for dinner. Since the
All Blacks game we have noticed a lot of Irish influence here. A lot of flags
and pubs around. We’re settled back into the hostel now with our bottle of
white open and ready to turn on The Two Towers; our tour is getting close!
Day 14:
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| Thank you for our wool things : ) |
Free breakfast at the hostel this morning,
which turned into free lunch as well as we made sandwiches to go. Had a slower
pack up this morning but hit the road before 10, headed to Wellington. Another
beautiful drive of hills, rivers, and sheep. And guess what? Today we found a
wool shop on the side of the highway. Pulled in to have a gander and found wool
everything! Made a few purchases and went on our way. Arrived in Wellington and
set out to return the car and explore the town. After a few days of long and
twisty drives, Alex was happy to see the car go (we’re picking one up again
after we cross the ferry to the South Island).
This is our second YHA hostel experience.
Our first, in Pahia, was lovely. Clean, beautiful facilities, but had several
older guests than we expected at a Youth Hostel. At the YHA again tonight, and
the same thing, several more older guests (45-60). They keep to themselves and
I guess it’s nicer than being somewhere with a bunch of loud partiers when we
have early mornings, but still a little odd. Oh well. Settling in now to finish
The Two Towers and start and finish The Return of the King before getting up
early to go on our tour tomorrow. We’ll take lots of pictures – we’ve realised
that the scenes from The Lord of the Rings are not photo-shopped at all. New
Zealand is just that picturesque.
Day 15:
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| Alex will lead you to Rivendell |
Today was an absolutely beautiful day in
Wellington, and we enjoyed it to its fullest. We started our day in Middle
Earth on our Lord of the Rings tour. We got to see sights for the three movies
including the forest on the way to the ferry to Brie, Minas Tirith, Helms Deep,
the River Anduin, some of Isengard and a stop for high tea (our second
breakfast) at Rivendell. The best way to spend the morning ever. We are
actually considering doing another tour when we are in Queenstown next week.
Our tour guide was a really big LOTR nerd (who played an Orc in the first movie
in the scene where Boromir dies) and was so nice. It was the two of us and a
father and daughter from the states. The father was originally from the Czech
Republic, but was sporting a Nova Scotia Tall Ships hat when we stepped on to
the bus.
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| Maura "Legolas" Casey |
When our tour was done we went back to the
hostel to re-watch all the scenes we had just seen. After this we headed over
to the Embassy theatre where the Return of the King premier was held to look at
photos and some old Hollywood star books. Our plan now is to have an early
night before catching the ferry to the South Island tomorrow morning.
Day 16:
Well, our early to bed plan didn’t work. We
got caught up in a bottle of red and a block of cheese before remembering we
needed to re-pack everything. Whoops! Up early, early today to catch the bus to
the ferry to take the first crossing of the day. For a three-hour ferry between
two relatively close together islands, we narrowly escaped our second round of
motion sickness. This ferry got air on the waves this morning. The first hour
was awful. However, after it calmed down we were able to catch some sleep. We
lucked out and choose the side of the boat that faced the sun and enjoyed a catnap
in the rays. A much-needed nap we may add.
After reaching Picton we deboarded, got our
luggage and our rental car and were on our way towards Nelson. For those of you
don’t know, the drive from Picton to Nelson runs straight through the
Marlborough region; a very famous wine region in New Zealand. We lost count of
the vineyards we drove past around 30. We stopped into 3 for Maura to have a
tasting (as Alex is driving she only sampled the best ones Maura picked out
because spitting or dumping even a sample glass is unacceptable). Of course we
walked away with two bottles and continued on our way to Nelson.
We are now curled into our room with our
electric fireplace going, sipping on some pinot gris while doing our laundry.
Free laundry at that. It’s the little things in life that can make you so
happy. Love you all!
Day 17:
Back to our wet laundry. Our evening didn’t
exactly end peacefully as our last day sounded. We went outside to check on our
cloths and low and behold they where smoking the dryer and still SOAKED. So we
turned our lovely Victorian “hostel” room into a dryer. (We quote hostel, as it
was really a mansion on a hill/bed and breakfast). As they were still wet in
the morning, we turned the car into a dryer as we headed off to Hanmer Springs.
Another gorgeous drive. Since we switched cars for the South Island we also
have a new GPS. Our last one, we named Billy. He was smart, reliable, and
specific. Our new GPS we have named Ally (in reference to Ally from The
Notebook). She is proper, nice, with a slight dementia since she seems to
forget the way occasionally. Funniest part of our drive to Hanmer was Ally
pronouncing Whakatu Dr. “Fukatu Dr. – not the first time she said it, but by
the eighth we were both in stitches.
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| The view from our "motel" |
Arrived in Hanmer to check into the “motel”
and got a free upgrade to a beautiful suite room. And we say “motel” because
it’s more like a 4-star hotel – we are lucking out with our internet
accommodation bookings. Hanmer Springs is our halfway point and also a little
treat to ourselves after being on the go for so long. Hanmer Springs has been
our choice as it sits on a Geothermal plate, i.e. Hot Springs. So tonight after
we got settled in our room (which included laying out our wet clothes again) we
headed off to the hot pools. Oh wow, what a lovely evening. Crystal clear
skies, a tad chilly, not over crowded and not too hot. Perfect. Had a good long
soak in several pools before heading home. Off to sleep now so we can get up
and soak all over again tomorrow.
Day 18:
HAPPY CANADA DAY!! To fully appreciate our
nation today, we slept in. For the first time in three weeks or so. It was much
needed. We’ve been trying to make the most of our time here so we’ve been up by
7 at the latest every day and checking out by 9 and hitting the road. Busy
busy. After our sleep in we took our time having breakfast and getting ready
for our day before exploring the outskirts of town and visiting Marble Point
Winery for a tasting. This is also the highest altitude vineyard in New
Zealand. Sample a few lovely wines, and of course, came home with a bottle of
Sauvignon Blanc. After the tasting we headed back to town for lunch at the
Monteith’s Brewery Bar. Monteith’s is a very popular New Zealand beer that we
wanted to try so we thought it was a good stop.
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| Hanmer Springs Hot Pools |
Did we ever luck out. Not only did we enjoy
a few good beer and a great meal, but we stumbled into the bar just as an Irish
man was taking the stage for a few sets. We both appreciate good tunes, but
this was phenomenal. He was so talented. He played the guitar, mandolin, bass,
an instrument with each foot (tambourine and bass drum) and the harmonica. We
have never heard anyone play the harmonica as well as he did. He was playing
tunes that sounded like they should have been played on the accordion or even a
fiddle. It was amazing. His repertoire was also sweet. He went from Jack
Johnson to the Eagles to traditional Irish tunes to Guns and Roses. What a
great way to spend an afternoon. After this we headed back for another soak in
the hot pools before heading back to our room four hours later. How did you
spend your Canada Day?!
