Well, we were waiting on time in front of the Villa the next day, saw one big Orange Stray bus passing by, but that was not ours. A bit later the same new white Stray minibus came around the corner...and disappeared again, very funny, haha, not. Five minutes later he really stopped and we got on the bus. Beetje raar, je staat daar met een paar mensen te wachten, dus ja, je zegt hoi, zet je tas in de bus, stapt in en…..mmm, niet eens een hug ofzo. Maar nog steeds dezelfde Karlyn hoor, alleen 15 kilo meer, Thumper had al verteld dat ie was aangekomen in zijn 3 maanden vakantie (gedwongen, te veel bekeuringen voor te hard rijden).

So on our way to Abel Tasman National Park. Done the trip before, but was in the middle of winter, so slightly different this time. Last year we usually arrived when it was already dark, so it's nice to arrive when it's still light and you can see the place.

Toen we dus aan het uitladen waren was ik heel even alleen met hem, en vroeg ie hoe het thuis was geweest. Maar verder is er weinig tijd om bij te praten. Nou is ie zowiezo niet zo'n prater, en ik ben gewoon een passagier en hij de driver. Beetje raar.

Had a great BBQ that night, including some fresh mussels, mjammie. Also a great way to talk with all the new people on the bus. I knew two Danish grils, who booked after my recommendations in ACB. And a couple of the passengers knew Noortje, Iben and Chaienne. Most of the new people went to bed early, our small group spent some time at the campfire before going to sleep. I hadn't booked any activity yet, but was thinking about seakayaking. The weather turne dout to be quite good the next day, so Nick and me decided to rent a seakayak for a day. First we got an introduction and kayak lesson on dry ground. How to paddle, how to save ousrelves in case of flipping over, mmm, got a bit woried about that. They gave us lifevests, booties and a neoprene jacket, drybags etc, and the we took off to the beach. Mitch gave us a short lesson in the shallow water, showed us the map and we took off. It's a great way to see Abel Tasman. We paddled around some islands and followed the coatsline back. Landed on a small beach for lunch and to climb some rocks. The wind blew us back to the beach where we were supposed to be picked up. The wind was a lot stronger, so we were really cold in the end, but warmed up after a warm shower.

Really cool to meet up with all the other people at the end of the day, who all did different activities (sailing, hanggliding, horseriding etcetera). A new Stray bus arrived that evening, we all made our own meals while they had their BBQ. Played some funny games at the campfire that night. Next day up to the West Coast, heading towards Barrytown aka No Town !

Keep on reading ;-)