Off to the South Island once again:)

After the energetic day of the Tongariro crossing, we decided that it would be best to just head South to Wellington and not go see some more mountains in the west of the country....mainly because we'd booked the ferry accross already and didn't want to postpone it. So we headed towards Wanganui, which is one of the oldest towns in NZ. Apparently this is where one or two of the wakas (really big canoes....almost like boats) landed with people from the pacific....it was only a two hour drive but we did it at a leisurely pace and took a good 4 to 5 hours doing that trip! But then again, you can't really rush around here becase the landscape is so amazing and every turn in the road seems to bring a completely new kind of landscape!

Arriving in Wanganui we decided to go to the movies and watch "The River Queen". If you want to see some of the stunning landscape of NZ (and even though this is a movie set in the 1840's, many parts of NZ still look like that!!!!) and understand the conflict between the native Maori people and the british settlers then this is the movie to watch! It was very well done, and really added to what Hannah and I had already seen and learnt here in the past 6 weeks. REALLY BEAUTIFUL!

We had to wait 2 hours till the movie would start, so once again, Hannah and I had a cup of coffee (seems to be an addiction we can't quite shake even though it's really adding up on the costs here!!!!!) and phoned around for accomodation in Wanganui and Wellington (where we'd be going to the following day). We found a campsite close to the centre of town in Wanganui, and then, becuase the nearest canpsite in Wellington is well out of town, we had decided to spend the two nights there in a hostel.....but after 7 phonecalls, it was evident that Wellington was booked up! Turned out that Wellington was hosting a whole lot of things: An International Arts Festival, the WWF (the wrestling....NOT the wildlife one!!!!) and the womans cycling world cup! Mmmmmmm..... so we went ahead and booked us a campsite at a camping outside Wellington.....apparently the public transport into town was good though.

That night in Wnaganui, was particularly windy! We were sleeping in the car and were thankful for it, becuase the tents there were being distorted continuously! One very curious thing aobut the campsite was that each campsite had an "ensuite". Basically, you didn't share the fascillities. You camped next to your little building containing a sink, toilet and shower! Talk about luxury!

The next morning we drove to Wellington, stopping at several little spots to enjoy the views and go see the little craft centres, which are dotted along the route.....I got myself a dress! Yes, I know, I never do, but for 9 euros, i couldn't leave it! It will be perfect for Hawaii. When we arrived at the campsite in Wellington, we were welcomed by a whole lot of ducks (how cute) and a very strong wind.....apparently going over 100km/h! When we got things sorted, we took the bus into town....took about 30min and basically spent a long time looking around the shops, seeing if there was anything affordable to do at the arts festival and getting our photos burnt onto a CD. There was a lovely collection of "photos from the air" on show which was free to go and view and you could go 24 hours a day! Hannah had seen some of these photos in Bristol (England), but there were several additions to the collection and it was a huge collection! The link to their website is in the column on the right of my blog....will add another from the photographer soon.

When we got back from town we were asked if we had a tent. We asked them why they were asking us, and it turned out that it was because ALL the tents in the campsite were now in trees or just blown to the other side of the holiday park....all becuase of the wind! We couldn't help laughing, though you couldn't help but feel sorry for the people to whom those tents belonged to!

The next morning it was still very windy and raining, so we didn't go to town till after lunch, but we did get to meet a lot of people that had slept in the kitchen area or in their cars that night beucase they couldn't find their tents or beucase their tents were broken....many people were also stranded in Wellington, becuase the ferry to the South Island was not operating beucase of the high gusts of wind. They had taken the risk the day before, but that had turned into disaster. The crossing that normally takes 3hrs, took almost 8hrs for this one boat, and when they arrived in Wellington, several ambulances were waiting. Apparently several of the cars and trucks had moved and bounced around and several people were injured. Glad I wasn't on that boat!!!!!!!

We spent the saturday just doing odd jobs, organised to go to the threatre and I went to STA Travel to organise my flights to South America. They are now sorted.....though still need to be paid for. I ended up staying in town till late uploading all the pictures I recently uploaded. Glad everyone liked them so much! It great to get feed back....keep it coming!

Sunday was a busy day: got up early, packed the car, drove to town and parked it (it's so cheap to do so here!), went to the "Te Papa" museum, Botanical gardens, the observetry and got myself a nice little chart of the constallations here, and went to the Opera House to see the play: Tristan and Yseult. The Te Papa museum is a MUST! It free to enter (though I donated some money mainly becuase I was so impressed by it all) and you got such a lovely interactive display. There was an exhibition on Japenese culture (which we didn't have time to explore) but they had a display of drumming....well let's just say it was amazing to see! We also learnt some more on the history of the country, the animal and plant life that is so abundant here and we went to a free exhibition on some collection of artwork. I only wnated to go there to see the one painting by Picasso and it was his famous painting of a face: it's profile as well as from the front. I don't know the name of it but i loved it!

The play we went to see, well, it was amazing! But then again, british humour is always great! It was a story set in cornwall and basically a love triangle that was approached in a bit more of a modern way....very very very entertaining! Hannh and I had a good laugh. The acting was really good too! As well as the simplicity of the props and the interaction with the audience worked well too!

From there, Hannah and I had to wait till 3am for our ferry to the South Island. Once on the boat I slept for 2 hours. We arrived just after 6am in Picton and we had promised ourselves a cooked breakfast, but we had to wait till 8am for that! All the shops didn't open till then. Let's just say it was worth it though! I didn't eat anything else that day till supper!

Today we're off to another farm. They plant trees there so it should be exciting....and even more exciting is that Hannah and I will have seperate rooms...probably. Not that we're getting on each others nerves or something......but the luxury!!!!!!!!

Hope all is well with everyone! And MUM: all the best with the elections today! People will vote for you.....I'm sure!