Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
03/02/2010
We arrived in Nelson having only just warmed up after our dolphin swim that morning and pulled up outside a posh hotel called Prince Albert, which turned out to be our accommodation - sweet. It was infact an annex off the side of the hotel that had been turned into a backpackers hostel called Fern Lodge and it was really nice. We managed to get upgraded to a double bed in the dorm due to there being so many people staying at the hostel that night. As we arrived the british owner told us about some deals that were available to us while we we staying there, one being a roast dinner and carrot cake and ice cream for dessert - all for only $13.50 which is less than 7 pounds. So obviously we had to do that. Another deal was free beer tasting!! It was quite clever of them really offering shot glasses of beer to everyone, getting them in the bar so they would spend money, it worked out well for us though as steph ended up winning a pub crawl in Queenstown worth $25!
That evening we made friends with even more Canadians, (Brad and Mike), played a few card games and some beers then decided to watch the hangover, as its soooo funny.
The following day we opted for a little lie in and in our attempt to save on pennies we decided to do a self guided walk to the centre of New Zealand, rather than one of the expensive treks in the Abel Tasmin national park. The walk was really good, a little steep but the views were rewarding once we had reached the top.
In the evening we played abit of cards with the Canadians, which later turned into drinking games and got even messier when the Manc girls joined us (Nat and Holly) along with a few of their friends. We always seem to end up playing drinking games or going out on the night before we have to be up early to check out for some reason??
Anyway, we managed to wake up, check out get inline for our bus - only to find out the previous driver had made a mistake and not put our names down to be picked up and the bus was full! Ahhhh. We, along with two other girls, were going to be stranded! Fortunately, we managed to speak to head office and arrange with the driver for the bus to take us as far as it could which turned out to be Westport.
The first night in Westport was O.K because we were with all our friends from the bus, we went to a pizza restaurant/bar had a few drinks and watched the Rugby sevens.
The following morning everyone left for the poo pub for their fancy dress party, while we were left in Westport. Our newly found friends, Becky and Charlotte - (the other two who had been stranded) had suggested we go to the cinema as the weather wasnt great and there wasnt much to do in the hostel. However, we had a walk round town and everything was closed because it was a public holiday. Rubbish. It turned out there isnt even a cinema in town at the moment, its been knocked down! Great. So we had to settle for the hostels T.V room and VHS player to entertain ourselves, along with a few goodies from the supermarket. After Zoolander and Bridget Jones Diary the new Kiwi bus - 2 infact, bringing with it a whole new group of travellers. We were eager to make friends and meet people as these would now be the people we will be travelling with for pretty much the whole of the south island. They turned out to be a good bunch including more Canadians (Nicole and Lauren) and a fake Canadian - Josie (who's from sweden taught by Americans at school so has a messed up accent and because shes travelling with Canadians, says shes one of them), Andy and his brother Vince, travelling together and Will & Will. As there wasnt much else to do we watched another film - Enough and then another - Sixth Sence. Then it was time for bed, holding back the excitment for tomorrow's party!
When we got on the bus in the morning we were introduced to our new driver Mar who was super cool, really laid back and very funny. Next stop Lake Mahinapua and the infamous Poo Pub.
- comments