The Villa Backpackers Lodge Picton

Ok - so it is my first night of solo traveling again which means that I am going to have to make an effort to meet people are socialise. When you are traveling with a friend you do still meet people but you don't have to always be making an effort. So first of all I had to check into a hostel on my own. I stayed in a place called the Villa which was a wicked hostel which provided free tea and coffee which is a winner in my book and it was such a friendly little hostel. When I arrived into my ...

Monday I got a flight with Sounds Air from Wellington to Picton in the South Island. It was only a few dollars more than the ferry and was 20 mins instead of 3 hours by boat. It was a tiny plane and a bit bumpy coming in to land though. Arrived in Picton and it started to hail and throw it down with rain which wasn't promising. Got dropped off at a hostel called 'The Villa' and luckily they had room for me. It was a beautiful place next to the best bakery I've ever tasted. Picton is in the Ma...

I awoke sharply at 6:30 full of **** and vinegar, ready to meet the new year head on - regardless of the fact that I finally crawled into bed around 3am without a modicum of sobriety. My body's internal clock functions precisely in spite of imbibation and/or exhaustion...or maybe because of it. I finished packing, cleaned my room and headed up the stairs of Kowhai House one last time. Jake, Shirley and I were all booked on the 1pm ferry to Picton, so I had some time to kill, wisely enjoying t...

Day 176 - Drove to the Marlborough region and on the way stopped at a large seal colony on rocks on the side of the road. A bit further on we stopped by the Kiwi Experience bus and walked along a track into the wood to find a waterfall with one, single baby seal swimming about in the pool! It was so cute and so surreal to see it up close! Stopped at a roadside cafe with a comical waitress who used the classic "any sugar love? Oh you're sweet enough already"! I bought a pie - a must in NZ! On ...

Picton was a compulsary over night stop with the stray bus! The town is the only ferry port to the North island. There were only mixed dorms available. This is where we got to know some people of the Stray bus. We met Jack & Emma, from Chichester, w.sussex. (About 25mins from Lauras parents) & Canadian Dan Nudleman aka Noodles! We instantly clicked as they were slightly nutty too! Emma talked us into going for a bike ride instead of a beer! We took the top class free bikes from the ho...

A few things New Zealand is famous for: Sir Edmund Hillary, Hobbits, the All Blacks rugby team and their pre-match haka, and the fact that they were the first country in the world to give in to universal suffrage in 1893 - a full 35 years before we allowed chicks to vote in Britain. Pretty progressive stuff. The kiwis are also famous for their killer tramps and people come from around the world to see and experience them. Some are hard and some are gentle, and the famous ones can take up to f...

The weather changes so quickly out here. It is so localised so it can be freezing cold and cloudy one minute and baking hot sunshine the next. Aparently it is the consequence of being in the middle of two oceans with their weather systems colliding. Wellington is known as the windy city. It has the highest mean average wind speed in the Southern hemisphere .(They need to go to Dundee - that is windy). This is created by the winds being funelled from the huge oceans through the narrow Cook str...

Arrived in Picton on Sunday, after morning on the Interislander ferry. No rain in the Marlborough sounds for months, then as soon as we get there - its constant rain - oh joy!! We stayed in a lovely hostel called the villa. On Monday we met one of Jos collegues, Margaret, her daughter Caroline and baby Thomas for lunch and a walk about Picton. It didn't take very long Picton is tiny. Jo and i attempted two days of the Queen Charlotte track. On Tuesday we walked an hour in pouring rain from Sh...

We say goodbye to Rossa, and myself, Cian and Danny embark on an epic 2-week trip around the South Island on the Magic bus. It should be... well, "Magic"!