New Zealand Part 2

I've decided to post some journal entries from my travels in New Zealand for the benefit of those who won't get see the pictures or talk with me about it. Mind you, this is not a narrative meant to explain everything about New Zealand and my time there, only a reproduction of what I thought was worth putting into my own journal. Enjoy, post any questions as comments and I'll respond as soon as I can.

October 27th, Auckland - Wellington
     Took the Trans-scenic Rail "Overlander," on a twelve hour train ride from Auckland to Wellington. Great way to see the NZ countryside, only cost nz$69, and train is always a great way to travel. Large windows and an open viewing deck emphasize the trip is about the scenery.

That said, it's a lot of the same green hills with grazing sheep and cows. At times it feels like those old movie sets where the background revolves behind the main characters as they ride in a car.

Though we only spent a few hours in Wellington, I was pretty impressed with it. Nice downtown, vibrant pedestrian corridor on Cuba Street, and a great hostel at Worldwide Backpackers.

October 28th, Wellington - Blenheim
     We caught the Interislander Ferry early in the morning and it was far more than I expected! More like a long distance cruise ship than just a ferry, with several nice seating lounges, a children's play area, cafe, I-site, and a cinema all on board! It was a very pleasant ride to Picton, windy but the scenery in the Cook Straight was nice.

We were able to snag a bus to Blenheim right from the ferry terminal and checked into our hostel around 1pm. We decided to rent a pair of bicycles to go wine tasting, which was an amiable way to tour except for two things: the bikes weren't very good, especially Anna's, and there was a very stiff headwind. We made very slow progress at maybe a jogging pace, but I like to think that just wetted our appetites more.

We tasted at two wineries and I got to try some beer as well at Allan Scott, Cloudy Bay, and Moa Beers. The tops for me at Moa was the Weka Lager and the 5 Hops Winter Beer, along with the Sauvignon Blanc at Allan Scott. When I get home that's the one I'll look for to share with my wine connoisseur friends.

We stayed at the Grapevine Hostel, which is a very nice place with a creek running in the back yard. Only one toilet and one shower, but right now that's not an issue with so few travelers around. We had a nice pancake and bacon breakfast in the morning before moving out to catch our bus to Marahau and Abel Tasman!