Though it is impossible to pack all that happened into this post, I will try, so it’ll be quite long. Most of my classmates chose to go to Abel Tasman and go kayaking at the beginning of the week. We (Aerin, Allison, Katherine, and I) didn’t know what we wanted to do until a couple days before we left – which turned out great! We were able to add on to some of the things the big group was doing, and thereby get the group rates, but still be independent. (Just one of God’s many blessings this weekend!) The adventure begins with the ferry over to Picton. People get to South Island (the southern part of NZ) two ways: ferry or flying. We chose ferry. The ferry was very big! We checked baggage and everything! When we got off we collected our baggage at a baggage claim like at an airport! Anyway, the ferry was pretty fun. I met 3 kiwi girls and played cards with them. (My friends decided to sleep.) I am proud to say that I am beginning to pick up the kiwi accent – one of my goals for this semester. We arrived in Picton 3.5 hours later, at about 9:30pm. Apparently, much of New Zealand shuts down at about 9pm. Who knew!? We didn’t. We checked into our hostel, and looked around town for something to eat. There was nothing. So we went back and went to bed. Hostels in New Zealand are sooo much better than in the US! It’s amazing!Next morning: Picton was a much prettier place in the morning. There were some cool little shops with good souvenirs. But the best part of the morning was the breakfast. We had pancakes and Canadian ham (NZ’s ‘bacon’) and bananas! Delectable! We picked up our car at noon and started driving to Nelson – about half way to Abel Tasman. The only thing we had booked for the day was our hostel that night – which was frickin sweet!, but I’ll get to that later. So we had all the time we wanted to do whatever! Katherine, being the only one 21 years old, was the designated driver. I quickly became the designated camera man – my choosing. Allison has a really nice camera – it’s really nice :) But I still love my camera much more. My camera is the perfect combo of fast shooting with good zoom and excellent quality all packed into a small space! I was positioned next to the window with the view, so I took TONS of pictures. My computer will overflow before I get back home, I’m sure of it. And did I mention, NZ cars are british! So we got to drive on the left side of the road, and had only a few close calls all weekend! Katherine was a very good driver. We stopped at random times for scenic pictures or playing in streams.
Once we got to Nelson, we unloaded at the hostel, and grabbed some lunch at the biggest McDonald’s I have ever seen! It even had a separate cafe section for pastries! Then we went to Tahuna beach. The coolest thing was this BIG rock I climbed. I swam out to it, scaled it, conquered it, upset a few birds perched on top, and swam back. It was equivalent to my swim to the bouy at the Virgin Islands! By this time we were starving, so we went to the grocery to stock up. Dinner was awesome only because I now know how to make AMAZING corn on the cob! in the microwave! All you do is cut off the ends, cut it in half, and stick it in for 6 minutes. Bon appétit! Make sure to leave the husk on it for microwaving! No joke! Food for the rest of the weekend consisted of Peanut Butter and Honey sandwiches, which I have discovered an insatiable liking for! (I know mom, it’s weird;) Next day was kayaking day. We woke up early and went to a farmer’s market type thing. They had all sorts of booths selling food, and clothing, and crafts. It was pretty cool. Then we drove to Abel Tasman and got our kayaks. God worked out all the details so that everything went smoothly, even though we could have gotten stressed about it! We had two kayaks, Katherine and I, Allison and Aerin. The kayaks we used had a rudder so I sat in the back to operate it, having had the most experience out of the group. Out on the ocean, I was like a machine! Man, I just kept paddling and paddling – Katherine helped some, but helped the most by taking pictures. (I actually ended up over-stressing my hand, but God is healing it up beautifully!) We stopped at a small beach for some PB+H. Just off the shore was a small 6 ft high island, which I climbed up, of course. And the water was deep enough to jump into! I even attempted, note the wording, a front flip. I didn’t quite complete it though, and ended with a pretty good smack on the back – but it was worth it! We then sailed for the seals. We saw at least 8 of them, including two babies! The landscape was breathtaking, and Katherine was fun to kayak with. She took a pretty funny panoramic video which is the source of my title :) One thing that’s kind of disorienting about the beaches was that low tide was really low! The water was so shallow, so far in, that low tide pulled the ocean a couple hundred feet out! And they drove tractors across the beach to pick us up, since tide was out when we got back! We then drove back to Nelson to stay at the same hostel. The hostel was awesome – because, it serves chocolate pudding/cake and ice cream every night. YES! That’s a bingo! On the way back to Nelson, we stopped at Rabbit Island, and took some incredible pictures! Sorry, no rabbits. Though we did see sheep! I’ve been waiting all week to actually see some sheep! Whenever we saw sheep while driving, we would say “Sheep!”
The final day (Sunday), I made breakfast for the girls (brownie points!) and we drove back to Picton pretty early. We hung out at the little souvenir shops and got some stuff. I got a shotglass with a carabiner handle! We arrived at the ferry at noon, even though it was to depart at 2:25. God put it on my heart to check for any delays. There was, but wait! Since I went up there early and asked, we were able to get on an earlier ferry, instead of having to wait! This was perfect b/c we had nothing to do anyway! PLUS, the ferry we switched to was nicer and we didn’t have to pay $92 that we should have! (The girls attribute the fee waiving to the fact that I talked with a girl. I’m cool with it, b/c now they think I can sweet talk my way out of all sorts of money! They are rather impressed) I know it was God. Only He could work it out so perfectly! The ferry was GIGANTIC! It was like a cruise ship! And we got reclining chairs, so we could sleep on the way back. God also woke me up, so that I could get some final pictures as we left the Queen Charlotte Sound. Thanks Dad! The walk from the ferry back to Weir House was wet, but we made it. Once dry and in our pajamas we reconvened for some final PB+H and to reminisce on our crazy weekend. And this was a laid back weekend!
Some things I realized this weekend: PB+H = good, rooming with 3 girls is pretty fun, God will always, w/o exception surpass your expectations when you rely on Him!
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