Nelson, New Zealand

Day 12

I take the ferry in the morning to the South Island which takes about 2.5 hours.  The ship is bigger than I imagined, and my Canadian ex-Navy friends tell me the boat is only a little smaller than the ones they took around the world.  There are 8 decks for cars, trucks, people, etc.  I see a couple 18-wheeler trucks full of cows.  The top deck is for viewing, but unfortunately the word of the day is rain, so there’s not a whole lot to see.  The boat does navigate through some mountains though so I put on my rain jacket and take a look.  When we pull into port, we unload, and we get into a bus which takes us to Nelson.  The bus drivers always tells us what we are looking at out the window (for those not sleeping).  He explains that it’s ALWAYS sunny in Nelson which is one reason why there are an abundance of wineries here.  Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.

We get off the bus and I walk to the hostel…in the rain.  I get to try out my pack cover, which works like a charm.      

I came to Nelson to kayak the Abel Tasman National Park.   Tomorrow is the plan.  I look at the forecast for tomorrow and it calls for rain, lots of rain; in fact it’s not supposed to stop raining until tomorrow night.  Damn! I decide to do a winery tour instead since this is a prominent wine making region of New Zealand.  It’s the best option for a day filled with rain.

Part of me is excited to play a classy, refined, pseudo-pretentious gentleman sampling the different vintages of the Marlborough region of New Zealand; kind of like a Napa Valley meets Middle Earth.  The other part of me is simply excited to get “horsed” (kiki word of drunk) with some others from the hostel all day tomorrow while someone drives me around.  It’s always good to have balancing influences.

I start thinking about dinner, so I ask where the nearest grocery store is.  First off, let me tell you that if you eat out every night, you’ll blow through money quickly.  I try to only eat out when I see something that interests me, or if I’m completely exhausted.  Also, I've found it interesting to wander through the grocery stores in other countries.  Everything is slightly different, even the familiar stuff.  In New Zealand, they keep the eggs on a regular shelf (not refrigerated) for example.  I also bought an ‘UgliFruit’ at the store yesterday.  Not sure what it tastes like yet, but it’s damn ugly.

I decide to make pasta with olives, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, and parsley for dinner.  With a couple apples and bananas thrown in for breakfast/lunch, it costs about 14 NZ dollars (~11 US dollars).  I’ll have this tomorrow night too, so I can make changes to the recipe if needed.  It’s nice to be able to make some good food on a slow day.

I stay in a room with 2 young natives (they teach me some kiwi words), 2 Englanders, and 1 Spaniards.  As we are talking, the lights flicker and the power goes out.  We hear people from the bar downstairs burst into screams and laughter.  The power comes back on a couple minutes later.

UgliFruit!

Day 13

“One day it started raining, and it didn't quit... We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stinging rain... and big od' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night.” –Forest Gump

The loud rain outside the window instructs me to sleep in late, so I do.  I check in around 11 at the front desk and ask about the winery tour.  The guy at the front tells me the tour is cancelled because the roads are flooded.  What the hell!  I work on plan C.  I ask the hostel owner what he recommends for this fine day; he has nothing.  He recommends sleeping, planning, or going to see a movie.  The thought of going to see Mission Impossible leaves me disappointed, but it’s supposed to be a good movie so I seriously consider it.

A girl from Bolivia comes out to the porch to find me glaring at the rain and querying my phone for ideas.  She had just come back from a 4 day kayaking trek in Abel Tasman, 2 days early.  Apparently the rain created a situation where about 40 people where cramped into the shelters in the park waiting for the weather to clear (which it never would).  She had had enough of this.  I don’t blame her, and immediately look upon my situation in a better light.  

I hear on the radio:
*that some tourists had to get rescued from flooding.  They were in trees.  I find this funny for some reason.    
* ‘The Hobbit’ is currently being filmed in New Zealand on the South Island and shooting is delayed until the rain stops.
*Almost all road traffic is stopped out of Nelson

The girl tells me about the glaciers I will see at my next stop.  They sound really cool. She hiked one (Franz Joseph Glacier) and skydived...skydove…whatever, the other one (Fox Glacier).  I check the weather for when I’ll be going through there and it looks perfect.  I’ll probably steal her route and do the same.  Skydiving above the ocean, a couple glaciers, and a rainforest sounds unbeatable.

For now though, I trade a big-budget American movie indulgence for my new skydiving plans. Seems like a fair deal.  I’ll grab a bottle or two of wine of the way back for the evening.  Tom Cruise you better not let me down.  

Not taken in rainy Nelson, and not being followed in rainy Nelson, but good advice nonetheless.