So here’s the coles notes version of my trip last year.

Flew into Sydney. Met up with a friend there that I hadn’t seen for a few years and got my bearings. It was nice to see a familiar face when so many things are changing at once.

I bought a shitty old car and drove through Sydney to Goulbourn. It was crazy getting used to driving on the other side of the road. I was trying to do it in Sydney no less.

After staying Goulbourn for a couple days I headed down to Canberra and took some crazy backroads out to Queanbeyan. Where I stayed with some family for a few days. I checked out the Australia War Museum and a few other things while I was there. They also took me down to Mount Kosciuszko, Australia’s tallest mountain. It wasn’t very hard to climb but was an excellent adventure. The area was beautiful.

I had planned to go down to the coast, possibly to Melbourne, then turn around and drive all the way back up to Cairns. But my family there convinced me that driving over to Adelaide was well worth the trip and I could just come back across the middle and see a bit of the “outback”. So I headed off down the coast.  I stayed in a few neat places and was just going to drive straight through Melbourne but ended up staying for a week.

There was tons of stuff to do in Melbourne. There are lots of gardens there and an awesome bus system that goes around the center of town. There is even a free one. The Aussie Rules game was awesome. I still don’t really get all the rules. The best part was a show on the docks with the Pyrophone Juggernaut.

Sadly, it was time to get on my way and I hit the Great Ocean Road. Apollo Bay was beautiful but wet, the 12 Apostles were, uh, some big rocks and Port Fairy was a little creepy(but had a volcano!)

I had no idea what to expect when I headed into the Grampians. After hiking to the Pinnacle, I decided it was one of my favorite places in Australia. The hostel there was owned by the guy who started the one in Apollo Bay and they bother were small, cozy and eco-friendly.

I had had enough of the rain though so it was time to head North. I packed my bag and headed up to Adelaide to spend a couple days. After that I started to drive to Broken Hill and realized that Australia is a really big place. I basically cut across from Adelaide to Sydney and got about as close to the “outback” as I could without being screwed if my car broke down. I just tried not the think about that happening. After 2 incredibly long days of driving I made it to Dubbo. After searching around for a place to stay, I got a decent campsite and then hit up the Taronga Western Plains Zoo. I hadn’t seen most of those animals in my life.

Despite being much further North than I was a week before, it still wasn’t sunny enough so onto the road again to Cairns. Diving on the barrier reef was incredible and I will definitely be back to do it. Re-energized and a little tanned, I headed down to the party town of Airlie Beach to do some sailing.

I was not disappointed.

And then Rockhampton was pretty boring.

I had never heard of Hervey Bay but it was apparently the gateway to Fraser Island, the Island of Sand.

After driving around the whole freakin town trying to find parking for the hostel I was going to stay at, I hung out in Brisbane for a few days with some hilarious Irish guys.

Back down in Surfer’s Paradise and Lennox Head, I stayed with some more friends and climbed Mount Warning. Damn that thing is steep.

Port MacQuarie was a cool little place. I ran a lot here getting ready for the 14k race I was going to do in Sydney when I got back there. It was on the water and sunny so I was happy.

I had been in Australia for 2 months by now and I was starting to think in Australian. Weird though….now was that an Australian or Canadian thought?

Funny that I totally blanked about what I did in Newcastle. I guess it wasn’t very exciting.

I wish I had had more time in Katoomba but I was anxious to get back to Sydney to sell the car that was falling apart around me.

The first place I stayed back in Sydney was in Bondi Beach in the same hostel we stayed at when I went down to play rugby in 2003.

Before I left for Australia, I saw a rad video who was travelling around Asia taking pictures of himself almost every day. He put it into a timelapse which showed going from clean-shaven to a dirty traveller with a bushy beard and long hair. I thought it would be neat to try. I couldn’t do it.

Cutting 2 pounds of hair off left me way faster for the 14km City to Surf running race. It went from Hyde Park all the way out to Bondi Beach. with 70,000 people in it, it’s the biggest time race in the world. I’ve never been with so many people.

I didn’t lose much and bought a couple things and did some thinking back on my last 3 months. I took a few photos along the way too.

Whew. I didn’t lose you there did I? Ok, that was 3 months in Australia. I had 1 month left and absolutely no plan for my time in New Zealand. All I knew was that I had to Zorb… and possibly bungy jump…. and maybe jet boat too.

Short and sweet New Zealand trip…. and GO!

I think there were a number of days around here that I was just generally picking my nose and not doing much. I can’t remember why I didn’t post. I took the Magic Bus south through the North Island, through Rotorua, and spent a day in Wellington. Then we needed to get ourselves to the South Island. We had the option to take the Interislander Ferry across Cook Straight or fly across. I wanted to see the area a bit differently and knew I’d be taking the ferry back on the way North so I took a little plane over. After being re-routed to a different airport on the South Island because of the wind, I finally made it to Picton.

We didn’t stay long in Picton and headed right away to Nelson where we spent a day in the Abel Tasman National Park. We took a water tax a few kilometers into the park then hiked back. Talking the bus driver on the way out he had mentioned a longer, but more interesting trail back that went up into the hills a bit more instead of along the water. “Much better views up there”, he said. We took his advice and took the high trail. It’s always interesting hiking with people you hardly know when you have no idea where you’re going. It all ended up well.

Along down the coast to Greymouth. Funny enough, it was a very grey little town that’s only claim to fame was the Monteiths Brewery, which we got a tour of. Being incredibly hung over after only a couple hours of sleep is not a great way to spend a bus ride but we made it in one piece to Franz Josef ( and to keep all our food down…).

I had heard that there were a couple of good glacier tours to do in New Zealand before I left on the trip but I didn’t really think about it again until I was down there. An option on the Magic Bus tour was a tour of the glacier or a heli-hike. The heli-hike was the same amount of time as the regular one but quite a bit more expensive.  I’m so glad I bit the bullet and in no time we were up in a helicopter and then wandering around the glacier.

I wasn’t sure if anything was going to top the experience of walking around on a massive block of moving ice. I forgot about everything you could do in Queenstown, the adrenaline capital of New Zealand. We took a bus trip out to Milford Sound and I have to say that it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. My photos could not do it justice. To top it all off, I flew back over the mountains into Queenstown. I was a little disappointed that there weren’t enough people interested in the helicopter ride back to Queenstown. It was expensive but it would have been the most incredible way to see the area. They even stop on one of the glaciers one the way back.

Not wanting to say I went to New Zealand and didn’t snowboard, I booked some gear and headed off into the Remarkables. The snow was great but the visibility on the morning I went was atrocious. They had orange pegs in the snow so you could see where the hell you were going. I definitely bailed into a big icey hole on my first run that I couldn’t even see.

Then I did the must gut wrenching thing I’ve ever done in my life. For some reason I booked everything right when I got into Queenstown and figured it would be a good idea to go Bungy Jumping. It was an even better idea to book it on the last day I was there so I’d stew in my own nervousness for a few days before I actually got the chance to jump. If you decide to do it if you go, do it right away. I felt sick I was so nervous the days before. To top it all off, I didn’t choose the first bungy in the world off a bridge, or the platform off the side of a mountain over Queenstown, but the third tallest bungy in the world, the Nevis.

I surprised myself on the bungy though. Everyone there was scared to go, some more than other people. Some people were so scared they tried not to jump when they go to the edge but ended up falling anyways. I’m not sure if it was competition with the couple guys that jumped well before I went or the solid resolution not to look like the fool that pretty much just fell off, but as I got to the edge, all fear fell away and I managed to pull out a beautiful swan dive 134 meters above the canyon floor. I felt like I was going to die just before the bungy caught and then it was all over. I was alive and well and actually able to think about the rest of the trip for the first time in a few days.

We headed out to the coast to Dunedin and ate too much chocolate at the Cadbury factory. Aside from running, there wasn’t much to do in Kaikoura because of the weather. Then it was back to Picton and across Cook Straight into Wellington. I had heard Wellington was called the Windy City but I experienced first-hand myself when I went for a run along the sea wall.

One of the most unique things you can do in New Zealand is called Zorbing. You basically get into a giant hamster ball and get rolled down a hill. It felt like being stuffed into a giant washing machine.

At this point, it felt like the trip was almost over. We were heading back towards Auckland and although there was still another section to the trip, I couldn’t help but feel sad about an incredible adventure coming to a close. I had made some amazing friends on the bus trip around New Zealand and now here was a good chance I’d never seen them again.

The last section going North from Auckland was relaxing. After the whirlwind tour of the rest of New Zealand it was nice to slow down, relax and spend the remaining time with the people I had gotten to know well on the trip. There was one more crazy adventure in store though. We all piled onto a 4 wheel drive bus to go out to Cape Rienga and on the way back 4×4′d to 90 Mile beach and the huge sand dunes in the area. Once we got there, they pulled out some boards and told us to hike to the top and slide down. We all thought the driver was crazy, until he did it himself and made some of the fastest runs out of all of us!

The bus ride back into Auckland was pretty horrible. I got sick with something that made any time away from the bathroom a scary thought.  I made the best of my last few days in Auckland, and then making sure I had all my gear and tickets, headed off to the airport.

Returning from being in other countries for 4 months was a strange experience. Before getting home, I had this feeling that things would be so different. Everything would be upside down and in different places when I got there. Everyone would be different and I wouldn’t be able to recognize anyone.

What I found though that everything was exactly the same. Everyone was doing the same things. Everyone was thinking the same way. Everyone was watching the same TV shows. Nothing had really changed. Everyone’s were almost exactly the same as I had left them 4 months earlier.

You can get addicted to travelling. I can see why that is so after only doing one international trip. It’s hard to make big changes in your life staying in the same place and being stuck in the same routine every day. Being in a different with different people and different languages and different cultures shakes things up. You can stay the same if you want but it’s hard. Travelling changes you. It lets you start fresh. It lets you be whoever you want to be.

It’s almost time to travel again and I can’t wait. I’m excited for the opportunity to see new places, meet new people and, most of all, the experience of starting fresh.

That’s what it felt like. Like getting into a washing machine.

After leaving Wellington and heading north we had a bit of time to look around in Rotorua. I wanted to try Zorbing.

After watching some videos and hearing everyone talking about it, Zorbing was definitely something on the New Zealand to-do list.  I had gone through Rotorua on the way south but the weather was horrible so I decided to wait until I was going north.

Out of a bus load of people, Russell and I wanted to go. I’m not sure if everyone else was scared or were trying to save money. We got our certificates printed up, changed into our swim suits and headed on up the hilll in a ragged old 4×4.

There are 2 runs down that you can choose from. One is straight and wide and the zorb gets moving a faster on the way down this one. The other one that I did zig-zagged down the hill and ended up in the same place as the straight one.

The Zorb guy topped up the ball with some air and then shot a bunch of warm water into it. He turns to me and says run and dive in. Really? Ok!  After diving through the small hole in the side and feeling like a fish in a hamster ball, he zipped up the cover and opened the gate.

I heard a tap on the outside of the ball so I was ready to go. Moving the ball is not as easy at it looks. I threw all my weight at the downhill side of the ball and I was off.

My original plan was to try and stay standed up the entire ride. I had heard it was really hard to do and you find yourself on your ass as soon as you start moving. It was damn near impossible! I gave a couple of pushes in the right direction and then I was down. The Zorb gained some speed down the first stretch and then launched up and hit the fence in the corner. Both the water and I were up in the air. I came down first. The water decided to as well but in the general vicinity of my face.

The rest of the way down I felt like I was stuck in a washing machine. I couldn’t tell which way was up. The water was sloshing around like crazy and up and over me. I couldn’t stop laughing the entire way down but in doing so ended up with a bunch of water in my mouth ever corner with all the water flying around.

Coming to a stop at the bottom they unzipped the cover, snapped a couple photos and then I slid out feet first. I was lucky to land on my feet on the way out, most don’t. They come flying out with all the water and land on their ass.

I had no idea what to expect going to Zorb. It ended up being one of the most fun things I’ve done on my trip and I’m definitely glad I went.

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Somewhere along my trip I got the crazy idea to do a bungy jump. I didn’t really want to spend the money to do a skydive so I figured bungy jumping would be the next best thing. Little did I know that everyone thinks bungying is harder. You have to jump yourself.

There are 3 bungies around Queenstown. We saw the first and original bungy at the Kawarau Bridge. It’s 43 meters high. On the way into town on the bus we stopped for a bit to watch a few people jump. Most of the people looked scared to death. A few were able to dive out like they recommend. The others just fell or hop off feet first. I took away a valuable tip though: don’t jump feet first.

I never saw the second bungy but it was on an open ledge at the top of the gondola above Queenstown. The smallest of the bungies, it might be the most interesting because you run and jump and there’s nothing but dirt and rock below you. You can even do it at night.

I figured I’d just throw everything I had at my goal and do the Nevis. I had heard it was the scariest thing ever and at 134 meters I believed it. That’s 3 times the height of the bridge jump was had seen. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

I have to say, I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous as the day before and the morning of the bungy. I was trying to think of every possible excuse to get out of it. Talking to a guy from the hostel that had done it the day before, he had mentioned not being able to do it if you were sick… or was that the skydiving? I had a bit of a cold at this point and would be quite disappointed if I couldn’t jump because of it. At the same time, getting out of it for reasons out of my control wasn’t exactly a bad thing.

I arrived at the office to check in and much to my dismay, everything was a go. The weather was good, everything was running, having a bit of a cold couldn’t get me out of it now.

There were videos of the bungy  playing at the office and at first I avoided them. I didn’t want to know what I was getting myself into. I found myself drawn to them though and they almost had a calming effect. It didn’t look that bad. It’s only a 8.5 second free fall to a 6 inch deep creek below. I’ll only end up horribly mangled or dead if something goes wrong. No problem.

I was thankful for the 45 minute bus ride out of town to the bungy. Anything to put it off a little bit more. I tried to collect my thoughts but only ended up more nervous. An American guy near the front of the bus wouldn’t stop talking. He sounded nervous but was trying to cover it up. Who was I kidding, I was so nervous I could hardly talk.

At the Nevis, I had given into the fact that I was going to throw myself from a perfect safe platform 134 meters into the canyon below. We got harnessed up and I checked and rechecked that things were buckled and tight enough. Poppping out the other side of the building, the gondola comes into view.  I was standing on the view platform when a few other people arrived.

The order of the bungy is always heaviest to lightest and to my surprise, I would be near the end. The surprised fellow that was to be first came up beside me and took one look at the canyon. He muttered, “That’s bullshit”, and quietly wandered away.

6 of us slid over to the main gondola at a time on the small one and got our leg straps done up. I had forgotten about the full body harness I had on but this made it all the more real. It was like having shackles around my ankles. “You’re not going anywhere but down,” they were saying.

The first guy got up to go. He looked scared out of his mind. Standing on the edge and looking down he mumbled something and fell off the edge. Wow. After being hauled up to the Gondola and breathing again, all he could say was how cool that was. I didn’t believe him.

One of the things they repeat over and over before you jump is to make sure you dive out. It makes for a better video and makes for a softer landing at the bottom.  Almost everyone just fell off the ledge before I went. A couple of fellows had managed a bit of a jump and that gave me hope. What would happen when I got to the edge?

It was quite windy the day I went so we had to wait for the gusts to die down before jumping. The fellow holding your harness behind you would say “3,2, 1, go” and then you jump, no ifs ands or buts. The American guy that had so much to say on the bus was very quiet just before he went. His first try didn’t result in much and he was still standing on the edge staring down. The bungy guy gave him a little pep talk and then started the countdown again. The second time was met with more hesitation and was going to pull back but he had gone to far. With wild flapping of his arms, he was gone.

My turn. I sat down in the chair, got my feet hooked into the stirrups and was hooked up. No turning back now. Oddly calm, I smiled for the camera and waddled up to the edge. Waiting for the wind to die down I had second to check out the view. It doesn’t look that far down but I know it is.

3…..2…..1…. go.

I think about doing the best swan dive I can muster and leap.

8.5 seconds of screaming toward the ground hardly being able to breathe and it’s over. I’m at the end of the bungy. I’m not dead, I’m not mangled, I’m quite happy actually. Happy that I didn’t freeze. Happy that I jumped well. Happy that it’s over.

On the second bounce I reach up and grab the strap that releases my feet and then I’m hanging out in the sun waiting to be lifted back into the Gondola. A round metal contraption hurtles down the bungy and clips into the attachment above me and starts the slow ascent. I felt like Neo in the  Matrix being hauled up into the ship.

For the first time in 2 days I can actually think clearly. I’m not constantly worrying about what the bungy was going to be like. There was still lots of things to do on my trip and they hadn’t even entered my mind after I started thinking about the bungy.

It scared me half to death but it was one of the best things I’ve done on my trip. I’ll definitely be looking for more of those to do!

Check out the video to see what it was like.

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I couldn’t see a thing.

There were three lifts. 2 of them went up a bit higher and the third stayed more central and lower on the mountain. I tried one of the higher lifts first and found that all I could see was white and the odd marker that showed the middle of the run. Just getting to the next marker was a bit of a nightmare and I hit the snow pretty hard a few times sailing over unseen holes in the snow.

The rented boots and board were treating me fine. The combination of wind, snow, fog and old, scratched goggles were frustrating me. I had my sunglasses with me so I tried those out instead. They worked ok but each run I had to dry them out and unstick all the snow from the front of the lenses.

Finally giving up I went in to have something warm to drink and mull over my options. I was very close to throwing in the towel and heading down the mountain. I would have to wait until the next bus just after lunch to do that though. May as well stick it out till then and see what happens.

I was struck with an idea on the way out and found myself in the ski shop trying on goggles with yellow lense. I hadn’t intended on buying any since I couldn’t use them for the rest of the trip and they would just take up space but after spending money to get to the mountain I was determined to make things work. I’ve been looking for some goggles with yellow lenses for dirtbiking at home anyways so I’ll be able to use them again.

By the afternoon it had cleared up a little.

With the fog drifting away and my new goggles I was able to make it down the run without regularly sprawling on my face.

I had no expectations going up to the mountain so I can’t say I was disappointed. I wouldn’t rave about my day at the Remarkables either. Every mountain has its good days and bad though and I’d imagine my day would have been one of the bad ones.

Areas that had regular wind run across it ended up icey and slick. Dips in the sun were reduced to piles of slush that grabbed my board and threatened to throw me over the front. There were too many flat spot for my liking. Skiiers wouldn’t have minded pushing through the little uphill bits to get back to the lodge by I can’t say I was pleased to take off a binding and hike up.

The lifts were all quads but were of the old style so a liftee had to hold the chair every time or your knees were abruptly taken out by the seat.

Not having boarded much last year I was glad to get out on the snow. I will be riding as much as possible this year and hopefully the snow at home will be a fair bit better than what I found at the Remarkables.

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The first day I headed out to Milford Sound. It’s world famous for its amazing views and incredible walking track. While we didn’t have any time for walking the track we took a full day tour out into the waters of the sound. The 4 hour coach took us from Queenstown around the mountains and down to Milford. Even the views from the coach were stunning.

The drive took us through some gnarly terrain along the Milford Road. The drivers need a special certification to be allowed to drive this road during the winter because it can get really bad. Sometimes there’s snow, sometimes ice, sometimes both. Every few hundred meters there was evidence of avalanches from the last year. Apparently the roads been closed 13 days already this year because of the slides and supposed to get worse.

One section of trees looked completely obliterated. There was no snow to be seen even though they had been tossed around recently. The avalanche had stopped further up the hill but the blast of air that comes down with the snow left the trees uprooted and in various snapped and broken positions.

Finally, our anxious bus ride was over and we were greeted with the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen.

The breeze was calmly blowing through the sound as we boarded the boat and started the 2 hour putter to the Tasman Sea. I lost count the number of times I completely zoned out, dumbstruck by the beauty of the water, mountains, and snow. The past few days had been filled with rain so the waterfalls were moving pretty good and they were all over the place. Small ones, tall ones, wide ones, narrow ones.

The landscape looked prehistoric. I half expected a brontosaurus to raise it’s head out of the misty woods.

On the way out to the sound the driver teased us with the prospect of flying back over the mountains in a helicopter or a plane. Not only would it give us a site of the incredibly picturesque mountains and water, we’d be back in Queenstown in 30 minutes to enjoy the rest of our day. After flying around in the helicopter on the Franz Josef Glacier, I was set on defying gravity again. Once I heard the price of $550 bucks to take the flight back, I had to rethink my choice of travel. Even the flight back was a bit steep at $330. Nearer to the terminal though, the driver announced that we could get a deal for the plane flight at $260(and even less after the exchange). That sealed it. I was going to fly back to Queenstown over the mountains.

I wasn’t disappointed.

35 minutes of absolutely amazing views.

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One of the items on my “must do” list for New Zealand was hiking on a glacier. We headed down to Franz Josef from Greymouth and arrived in time for a half day hike on the glacier. The cheaper option was a walk to the terminal face of the glacier and up the ice a bit. The other was a heli-hike that flew up higher on the glacier, returning you to town after a couple hours on the ice. I had originally planned to only do the half-day hike since it was cheaper and I could move on down the coast the next day but after hearing recommendations about the heli-hike I had to change my mind.

An American girl from the bus and 7 others joined me on the heli-hike and it was amazing. I would have been happy with just the helicopter ride above the glacier but having a couple hours on the ice just made it so much better.

The ride up the chopper hugged the hills, banking and turning giving us incredible views of the valley and the glacier itself. I have a feeling the pilot was having a great time coming down the valley to where we would start our hike as he pulled some sharp turns then dropped the struts lightly onto the ice. We clambered out and anxiously waited for the rest of the group to be ferried up.

After a bit of instruction from our guide Brendan we had donned our crampons and set off onto the ice. Walking with 10 spikes on your feet takes a bit of getting used to but was very liberating once it clicked. Although it definitely wasn’t recommended you could literally run around on the ice. The ice was 40-100 meters thick in some places but could be paper thin in others. There could only be a small opening or a bit of water underneath or a massive cavern that you probably wouldn’t get out of. Walking in a single file line behind the guide was fairly important as none of us wanted to test out their crevasse rescue techniques.

Our itinerary included anywhere we wanted to go. Brendan showed us a few neat spots on the flatter part of the ice then took us in random directions towards the larger seracs further up the glacier. For those that haven’t read much about glaciers or mountaineering, seracs are the towers of ice that are left freestanding when 2 crevasses intersect. They range from small enough to step over to enormous blocks of ice that would crush the group if it fell.

The rest of our time was spent wandering through, under and over the ice doing our best to stay upright on the steep sections. One of the girls bailed a few times on the downhill sections but the rest of the group did well. If we hit a section that was too steep to scale, Brendan would chop out some steps and we’d cruise on through. Sometimes it’s just not possible to continue. About half way we got a bit stuck and after a few minutes of Brendan climbing around on the ice like a monkey, we gave up and headed back to a previous track and went a different direction.

I tried to get into the front seat for the ride back but everyone was seated to balance out the chopper so we were back to our assigned seats. The view was again stunning and the ride exciting. The helicopter seemed to defy the laws of physics rising straight up and peeling off sideways during our flight.

Back on the ground again with a big grin on my face, we wandered off to the hostel to get cleaned up and ready for the Australia vs New Zealand Rugby game at the local pub.

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There are a number of national parks and excellent day and multi-day tramps in New Zealand. The many kilometers of tracks in Abel Tasman National Park are among the most beautiful and easiest to access. About 40 minutes out of Nelson on the top of the South Island of New Zealand, the park stretches some kilometers along the coast allowing easy access by boat. Many of the hikers take a water taxi to one of the drop off points and then spend a few days walking back.

Up early to catch the bus out to Kaiteriteri, we had clear, sunny weather for the day. It started a bit cold but promised to be beautiful after the sun came up and we could no longer see our breath. We passed many apple orchards on the way out while attempting to absorb the incredible amount of information our interesting and opinionated bus driver threw at us. How many tons of apples does New Zealand export? Where does it all go? What types of apples do they grow in this region? What do they taste like? I can’t remember any of the answers but this guy could tell you without even blinking.

Finally hitting the edge of the park, we hopped on a catamaran taxi that cruised out to Anchorage. The scenery was amazing. The bright sunshine helped as we slid past beautiful beaches, huge rock formations and a pile of seals baking in the sun. Arriving at our destination, the catamaran pulled up close to shore extended the ramp down to the sand and we were off. After a few photos of the beach we just found ourselves deserted on we head into the bush anxious to see the views ahead.

From Anchorage back to Warahau there are a couple routes possible. The beach track is about 12 kilometers taking you along the beaches and low on the hills in the woods. The inland track is a bit more adventurous heading in from the beaches and to the tops of the hills. Originally we had planned to go a bit further along to Bark Bay and walk all the way back, giving us more to see and a longer walk. At the boat though we discovered they don’t allow you to go any further than Anchorage on our trip any more because of the amount of time it takes. Too many people were getting ambitious on the track and coming in late.

With the longer walk along the beach out of the question, my group headed up the inland track not quite sure what it would be like or what we would see. We were rewarded with amazing views of the beaches and out over the straight from the tops of the hills. The track was definitely much steeper and longer than I had thought it was going to be but most of us were up to it and took it in stride. A few people grumbled and complained every time we hit a steep section but were very happy to hit the downhill sections.

The trailhead ends at a bridge just outside the township of Marahau. A couple of us slipped off our shoes set off straight across the expanse of beach that separated the water from the town while the others stuck close to the trail and stopped at the bridge. We weren’t quite sure where the bus was supposed to pick us up for the return ride so we rocked up to a picnic table in town by a small shop and lounged in the sun. After an ice cream on the beach and collecting everyone that came with us out to the park we were on our way back to Nelson attempting to hear the random commentary from the driver.

Where is that you might ask? I asked the same question when I saw it on the itinerary for the Magic bus that I’m taking around New Zealand.

Well, Picton is a tiny town on the north end of the South Island that is one end of the interislander ferry route. The ferry takes about 3 hours to do the crossing from Wellington on the North Island to Picton on the south. I came at it a little bit different way though. The tickets for the ferry were about $50NZ one way, you can also fly for $71NZ(if you’re on the Magic bus, $89 otherwise).

Perfect. I like flying, I’ll get to see the Cook Straight from a different perspective and it only takes 20 minutes. They offer a shuttle to the ferry terminal to hook up with the Magic bus so that’s sorted. It was all going perfectly to plan until just before we board.

The planes not going to Picton airport any more, it’s too windy.

It’s going to Blenheim. Umm, where’s Blenheim….and there’s a lot of wind?

Fortunately they had already arranged a shuttle bus from Blenheim, which is 20 minutes from Picton, to the ferry terminal. And as for the wind…. the ride was a little bumpy but not bad at all.

As I write this I’ve got about an hour to go before the ferry gets in and the bus leaves but I’m grateful for the relaxing wait. I can chill, listen to some tunes, get some writing in and watch the locals drive around in the water with their vans.

[gmap]