Broadway Motel Picton

... could only see the tops of a couple of heads by the second one, and everyone was completely submerged by the third one, BUT we all stayed in the boat and popped out no worse for the wear at the end. Good times!

That was the short one, we paddled to our next scouting location to check out the next class five rapid – about 7x as long as the first! Our guide explained it was all about the entry – if you go into the rapid in the right position, then ...

... everywhere and loads of lanes! We didn't have a clue where we were going and just ended up following signs to Sea Town! It's about 5 k out the city. We parked in a carpark next to the beach, and walked to the fish and chip shop for tea! It felt a bit wierd as we were no longer in the middle of no where and there were people having dinner parties and chavs blaring music in the car park! It's also back to being cold and windy sadly- my body is very confused!

I woke up at 6 am and decided to just take a nice walk around Picton. The quaint adorable town doesn't have much to offer tourist wise, but it is still an amazing site. The greenery, the beach, the hills/montains in the distance, I couldn't ask for anything more nature wise. These are some pictures I took on the beach this morning...and my amazing shell I hope to bring home without any cracking.

Nachdem wir eine Nacht im Auto verbracht haben, machen wir uns erst etwas planlos auf. Nach ein paar Stunden Fahrt durch Berge, Schluchten und Täler finden wir unser erstes kleines Paradies. Den Rotoiti See, an dem wir unser Zelt aufschlagen. Der Tag ist wunderschön uns warm und der Blick auf dem See inmitten der Berge ist traumhaft. Mich erinnert das Ganze an unsere ersten Wochen in den USA - Lake Wenatchee (siehe früherer ...

... possible type of rain and wind storm over the years, had a broken tent pole that is now patched together, and the tent floor started to seriously leach water towards the end...not a good thing in this rainy climate and made for some wet nights. We had phone malfunction and bad news from home that began to make us feel like we were snake bit. Through it all though, we have had tremendous experiences and our final days here in a rental car allowed us to see and do ...

It's Tuesday. It's raining in Wellington, New Zealand. Sometimes it pours but mostly it is light sprinkles to mist to just plain damp. It must be a sign: "Go To The South Island." So, we shall. You can't take the Avis car on the InterIsland Ferry-a three hour boat ride across Cook Straight and through a bunch of islands from Wellington to the "Other" island. So, we consolidate our baggage, have breakfast, fill the North Island rental car with gasoline and ...

... from travelling. We stayed in The Villa Backpackers, and get this, they give you free apple crumble and ice cream every evening! Not as good as Momma Lynch's crumble, but it was free and tasty! About all we did in Picton was play mini golf (they have courses around every corner in this country!) and had a yummy Indian dinner, followed by crumble. Not a bad ould day...

... aboard our purpose built catameran we were lucky enough to see VERY close up (although still giving them a comfortable space) several species of albatross, a colony of NZ fur seals, an incredibly large pod of gorgeous dusky dolphins and the stars of the show Tiaki and Little Nick, 2 enormous sperm whales who live in the deep waters just a few miles out to sea. Each whale (at different times) was on the surface for 5-15 minutes before taking one last huge breath of air to ...