Two Beers and a Pretzel

I think I’ve been in New Zealand for 10 days, but I’m moving so fast that they all blend together.

On the 4th we took the Interislander Ferry across the Cook Straight between the North and South islands, then thru the beautiful Marlborough Sound to Picton.

The Magic Bus took us from Picton to Nelson. It was interresting because there was a bicycle roadrace with 2500 racers.

I even saw a recumbant bike and a unicycle (sorry, no pic).  Personally, I’d be unreasonably upsett if a guy on a unicycle was beating me in a bike race.

About 2 hours later the bus arrived at Nelson. I assume this town was named for the British Admiral, Horatio Nelson, who’s exploits would have been going on during the founding of this city.  I never asked, but te next city is called Trafalgar (named after the battle where Nelson died), so I’m guessing so… Odd that I just recently finished a biography of Nelson.

I went into town for dinner and a beer. Since this is the post-peak season, the whole town basically shuts down at 5pm except the girlie revue bar / dodgy massage parlor, which had some rough looking women smoking in the upstairs windows calling to you from the street. Luckilly, I found a slightly less dodgy place to eat…

On the morning of the 5th I boarded a transfer bus to Abel Tasman National Park at 6 AM. At 8:30, we arrived just outside the park at Kiwi Kayaks where I met the rest of my group for the day. I had fun sharing a Kayak with Holly from Canada.

We kayaked North thru the park to Anchorage Bay, where the Aquapacker’s Hostel was waiting for a number of us.

The next day I hiked back to town with Jutta, a very nice German lady who works for BMW finance in Munich and had travelled to their office in Dublin, Ohio a few times.

Back at the Paradiso Hostel, I ran into Tom & James again and we ventured out to sample some of the local brew at the Sprig & Fern.

On the 7th the bus went to Greymouth – the largest city on NZ’s west coast.  We stopped at a few places along the way, like the “pancake rocks”.

Later that evening, a huge group of us went on the Montrith’s Brewery in Greymouth, got tastings, all the beer we could drink for 30 minutes, and then a BBQ and Kereoke at a nearby bar.

Me & Meghan…

Me & Holly…

Lisa and Tova from Sweeden…

The “Magic Bus Men” won the Kereoke contest (you lost that lovin feelin) and got our bar tab covered, and nifty drinking bottles…

My favorite event of the night was the drinking contest between Megan and Holly…  It’s pretty funny.

Today (the 8th), slightly hungover, we stopped in the town of Ross to pan for gold…  This rown was built on a gold vein, but the residents continually vote not to mine it (which would involve removing their houses).  So it is considered on of the richest toowns in New Zealand – although I don’t know how New Zealand law works regarding mineral rights. I tried panning ($8NZD) and got a piece of Jade and a dozen flecks of gold (they rig the pans so everybody gets some).

They also had a neat wall of old newspaper ads…

Oh yeah, here’s one more pic for my buddy Joe… Rugby is the national game here in NZ, and many of the clubs are well established.  Driving anywhere you see kids playing in Rugby leagues like Pee Wee Football or Little League Baseball in the States…

Today I’m in Franz Joseph – comtemplating whether to risk the weather to see the Glacier…  I think I’ll give it a go, as the hangover is fading…