South Island beginnings - Picton and the Kaikoura coast

We have had an awesome time so far in our two weeks in the South Island.  We were working at Tombstone Backpackers in Picton. Picton is a small town on a harbor in Queen Charlotte Sound, where the ferries come in from the North Island. Most people just drive right through, or stay only one night before going to the rest of the island, or to do the Queen Charlotte Track (a 3-5 day trail in the mountains along the sounds).  It was probably the best backpackers we've been to so far, they give breakfast and free wifi, and so comfy. We also went on nice hikes in the area, and did a few hours of the Queen Charlotte track, such amazing views. It's one of the landscapes where photos don't even come close to capturing the awesomeness of the views. But I took a lot of photos anyway.

 We left Picton after a week, we really liked working there but there's so much more to see! We do have tickets to a music festival over new years about an hour's drive from the same area, so we will be going back.  The last few days have been spent camping, hiking, and relaxing. We drove to Blenheim (only 30 minutes away from Picton), and spent a day visiting some of the wineries. Marlborough region is famous for wine, specifically Savignon Blanc. Sav is usually too sweet for me, but we found some good ones, and had a lot of fun doing all the tastings- mostly stuff way out of our price range.

mmm..free wine

Brancott Estate winery

free cheese is almost better than free wine.

camping out on the ocean near Blenheim

  From Blenheim we drove south down the Kaikoura coast. We saw fur seals right next to the highway, and again, some beautiful landscapes!  Kaikoura town is pretty tourist-oriented, they do lots of whale watching tours, swimming with the dolphins, fishing charters, etc. We can't afford any of that, so we did some window shopping and went on the coastal walk, saw a lot of seals up close and then had a totally delicious lunch of grilled rock lobster, fish, and scallops. Amazing.

Next, we went south to Culverden, where we stayed with a woman from Venezuela named America, and her husband, they work and live as share milkers on a dairy farm. We met her through my friend Hayden in Wellington, and she invited us to stay. It was like staying in a little South America in NZ- they have a few other families on the street from Chile and Mexico. During our stay we had a bbq and made a birthday cake for a 4 year old's birthday. I knew I should have learned Spanish but I didn't think it would come back to haunt me in the middle of New Zealand!

Today we went to Hanmer Springs, a resort town about 30 minutes away in the hills. We went on a hike in the mountains and then to the hot springs spa and pools. We spent two hours in the mineral pools and then rented a sauna. So relaxing and fun. Good day.

Tomorrow we go to Akaroa, which is on the Banks Penninsula, east of Christchurch. We've heard its really beautiful, it's a small town but close enough to the big city. We are going to be working at a backpackers there. Hopefully I will be able to find a cafe job in the town so we will be able to stay over the holidays and earn some money. We'll keep updating the blog when we can.