As you may know I am travelling the south island of NZ at the moment. I got myself a Stray pass, hopped,last Thursday, on the Intercity from Auckland to Wellington, got on the ferry to Picton after a good night out in the hostel where I stayed, slept a couple of hours during the crossing and jumped onto Daisy's bus in Picton. Surprisingly, I managed to crump all I wanted, or needed, to bring down south in my small backpack. I decreased the amount of shoes I thought I might need from five to three and did not bring, I think, unnecessary clothes. Have to say that till now I haven't even used a third from what I brought but let's not get of track here.
So, I got on Daisy's bus, with 17 other backpackers, and the first thing we were going to do that day was.....wine tasting. Awesome activity for an hangover day! I needed about five different wines and only 2$ to get me into that nice half drunk phase again. However, this was going to be a long day on the bus and I knew I was going to be hit by Daisy if I would fall asleep while he was driving. So, I got myself together and managed to stay awake all the way to Marahau, Abel Tasman where we were going to stay the next two days. We decided to cook a group meal this night which resulted in awesome mussels, thanks to Daisy, and amazing spaghetti coordinated by nobody else than myself (I am not kidding here) and lots of help from other people on the bus. Cooking spaghetti for 14 people in a small hostel kitchen is kind of a challenge which we, as an awesome team, managed very well. I called it a night early and enjoyed an outside hot tub before I went to sleep.
Next morning we woke up with the news about the earthquake which had hit Christchurch early that morning. As we were in Abel Tasman, about 500km away, some had felt it whereas others didn't. I contacted home as soon as possible to let everybody know I was doing good. However shocked by the fact of this 7.1 earthquake we got the car and drove to a very cute salmon farm where we were able to catch our own salmon which was then going to be cleaned, smoked and eaten. As an, very, inexperienced fisher I followed Mike. I hoped he would know what he was doing....After 20sec he proved me he knew exactly how to catch fish. I was shocked, not even ready, still looking at the water in the hope to SEE a fish. But there he was standing, getting the fish to the shore where I was suppose to catch it in my net. I tried to pretend I knew exactly what I was doing, got the net, walked to to shore, managed to not fall into the water and surprisingly got the salmon out of the water in no time. A bit proud of myself I let Mike convince me of throwing in the line as well. After following his instructions I caught the, second, fish in my life! (there was this one time back in the day, when we didn't had the Euro yet that I happen to go fishing with some of my family). Some pictures needed to be taken so I posed with my fish, kissed it and let Mike kill it. After 20 min of fun (Mike managed to catch yet another one in the following 10 min) we let them clean our salmon and smoke them for us. The taste was amazing! I was never a big salmon lover but catching them yourself suddenly makes them much tastier :)
We drove around some more and I even got to drive a manual car on the left side of the road heading up a mountain with some crazy turns in it. I bet Mike was scared as hell however he keeps denying it. Next day was Barrytown day. All Nations backpackers, well known for the dress up parties. As I grew up with carnival I like parties like this and thought about my outfit for the rest of the day. Pirates and ninjas was the common thing I heard so I, as some people may know of me, needed to be different. As a persons who doesn't wear make-up or owns a proper dress I decided to kill with... LOVE! I let Mike wrap me into a plastic bag, I tied a bow (think this is the right word) around my waist and head and here I was, ready to destroy with love and cuteness. Have to say it was a really funny evening with some interesting gossip afterwards :) Don't we just love it being on an holiday, hooking up with everything and everybody and let the gossip go around the bus the following morning :) Or other things referring to one of my previous posts.
However, being sort of a backpacker at the moment I am not able to access my Twitter or Facebook account very often. I told you in my previous post that I am a Facebook addict and I have to admit that it was very hard not being able to post anything on Twitter or Facebook. However, the sweating and shivering is over and I am very happy to say that I am still able to live without it. (Although I prefer with).
I will continue my journey through the south tomorrow where I will take heaps of pictures to post here and on my Facebook account next week. I just love New Zealand and all the people in it!
