Abel Tasman 2

I hiked, I walked, I boated, I kayaked, I ate, I peed, I SPFed...not bad Abel Tasman National Park, not bad.

It's 7:30pm and I'm ready for bed. Am I doing it right?

Abel Tasman

Abel Tasman is a famous guy in New Zealand. He's not a kiwi, he's actually a Dutch guy. He's the guy who first saw this land in the year... He first sighted these islands back in... Yeah nope, I have no idea. I promise he's important though.

LP and I are going to hit up the national park named in his honor. We are separating for the day, she's going to trek for 8 hours while I'm going to hike for about 2 and kayak for about 4.

Wish us luck, y'all.

PS we are staying at a hostel called the Laughing Kiwi in a city called Motueka, just for reference as to where we are.

Deep thinking Nelson

On Monday, over pizza in a restaurant called Stefano's, we made a list. It's not necessarily a bucket list--- I mean it is but, it's little more personal than that I feel.

The list shows how different LP and I are, down to our toes. It's written out in my notebook so you know it's completely legitimate.

The picture of the list is below, and for safety and otherwise personal reasons I didn't want to type it out legibly.

After our pizza we walked up the hill to Kiwi style catholic cathedral, which isn't too different than American style cathedrals. The stain glass was gorgeous, the organ was gigantic, but what struck me the most and what might stick with me the most was the labyrinth painted on the floor.

Labyrinths are like mazes, with the exception that there are no dead ends, perfect for...spiritual thinking or reflection. I'm not especially religious, but this labyrinth I feel like I can relate to....

On the plaque before the labyrinth read the words:

Walking into the Answer.
At the threshold of the labyrinth, embrace the words;
"This is my opportunity"
Ask yourself:
"Do I have the courage to move on?"

I thought back to my freshly written list in
my notebook and repeated those words in my head over and over.

Katie, this is your opportunity.

Of course I have the damn courage, it ain't going no where.

Bikes and Mexican Monday

So actually no rental car from Picton. We booked another bus ride on our InterCity bus passes and headed to Nelson.

We are into this habit of finding out about things like...free shuttles to places like, I don't know ..our hostel... Only after we've walked for 30-45 minutes to get there. No big deal, we're leading an active lifestyle now, so it's okay.....

The Hostel in Nelson is called The Bug. I can see where you might be worried about me, after the great bug attack in Kings Cross in Sydney. Nope, different kind of Bug... Of the Volkswagen variety, and I'm not mad about it.

This hostel has free bikes you can take out on the town--Nelson's a little more spread out and more easy to navigate and get around with two wheels.

I think the last time I was on a bike, like a real one, not the at-the-gym-tryna-get-swole- stationary-bike... Maybe when I was in my early teens? I'm not a smooth operator when it comes to any kind if athletic ability, assessment.. I have no hand-eye coordination etc. I barely meet the minimum of those things at any point in time. Needless to say... This Farmer and bikes have a lot to learn about each other.

We had some sweet roommates at The Bug-- Max from Washington State and Catherine from Victoria, Canada. Our first night we biked (please see above paragraph) to the local grocery store and picked up wine and beer, biked back (again see above paragraph), and just had a grand ole time. ---That's the beauty of staying in hostels. The awesome sense of community and being home.

We celebrated Monday night with our own NZ version of tacos--- proclaimed Mexican Monday for all. Delicious.

A Day in Picton

LP is a get up and go kind of person...she wakes up early and 10 minutes later she is ready to go. She does this everyday... Everyday. And everyday I wake up a little bit later and take my time, everyday.

LP got up at the crack of dawn today, as per usual and ventured off and I haven't seen her since.

Two weeks together 24/7. And today For the first time , I was on my own.

Picton, a town of 4,700 people... A far, far cry from the one million people in Auckland and the 200,000+ people in Wellington.

So, Picton used to be a whaling town, and now it's the starting off point for the South Island.... I think it's come along way for it to be a tourist point. There's a lot to do here from walking the tracks around the Harbor and Queen Charlotte Sound, to kayaking and taking a ride on a sea plane.

I actually watched a kiddie sailing lesson for about 30 minutes. There were 8 or 9 kids all in their own tiny sail boats, all doing something completely different, all getting a little frustrated and all highly entertaining. Their instructor was in her launch boat, yelling and hollering...very reminiscent of Murray State Rowing and Coach Weaver out on Kentucky Lake.

Picton, I like you.

Next item of business on the agenda today-- to rent a car or to not rent a car? For how long? Where should we go next?

ACE car rentals seems to be the popular one-- $40 a day including insurance? I think yes.

An Ode to Doug

I know this story of guy who decided to see the world---not just read about it or talk about it, like really see it. He drove a car from the States to Panama, he hitch hiked from one end of South America to the other, he's been all over Asia, Europe, and parts of Africa. He decided to the see the world with absolutely no regrets.

Sometimes you gotta step out of line and take your feet somewhere new.

He did, now it's my turn.

Thanks Daddy, I love you.

The Interislander

We said our Goodbyes to Wellington, we'll be back soon .

We've made it to the South Island! We took the Interislander Ferry, which as of 2012 marked the 50th year that the company has been transporting people back and forth between the North and South Island. My dad used the very same Ferry system back in the 70s, with the exact same Route -- the Cook Strait. Kinda cool... Actually kind of awesome.

He told me on his trip he blew his lunch 20 ways until Sunday...so I was kinda worried.

On my side was that the ferry my dad used was retired sometime in the 80s... Ferry technology?

I didn't blow my lunch 20 ways until Sunday. I didn't even get sea sick, that could be because I took a motion sickness pill and because the weather was absolutely pristine. There was no chop, there was no nothing. The water wasn't glass but it was pretty damn calm.

Here's a glimpse of what's to come from the South Island. Thank God.