We're in the South Island

I must say that our experience in NZ is definitely an Adventure with a capital A.  Yesterday we took the 3 1/2 hour ferry trip to the south island.  We sat down by Mary, a lovely NZ woman.  In the time spent on the ferry we talked and talked, sharing about our lives and at the end Mary invited us to stay in the porch of her cottage, located on the coast outside of Tasman.   How kind of her!  We exchanged phone numbers and email addresses. 

 It was a beautiful day and as we approached the south island we were impressed with how green everything was----  just like the pictures in the guidebooks! 

We checked (cheeked, with the long e sound) into a Backpacker's Hostel.  I would say that we were the oldest ones out of the 80 + young folks staying here.  

We ate fresh snapper and beef pot pie at a nearby cafe.  Then we set off on a trek above the Picton harbor.  When it was time to turn around, I set my pack down on the trail and before I knew it, the pack was cascading down the cliff.  In typical "Kathy" fashion, I yelled and Will responded by nose-diving down the embankment, grabbing the the pack and luckily getting stopped by the bushes.  We laughed and laughed, but later realized how dangerous this was!

It doesn't get dark until after 9:00 so we took advantage of the daylight and strolled back to the hostel.  The hostel is quaint and colorful.  Our room is painted bright purple, my favorite color.  You can easily get lost trying to find the bathrooms.  This morning we had toast and jam with coffee in the communal kitchen.  The backpackers put their name on their food and store it in one of the refrigerators or on a labeled shelf.  Will set out to get us some food at a nearby grocery store.

We were to pick up a rental car, but since it is raining, we decided to cancel the car and book a 1/2 day winery tour of the Marlborough region.  We got this idea from talking with one of the young folks from Australia.   Previously, we thought we would trek along the Charlotte Trek where you can  be dropped off and picked up again by a water taxi.  It rained most of the night, so that idea was out.  We keep reminding ourselves that this is practice in being flexible. 

 Yesterday while on the ferry, Emma from NZ Locums, called our cell phone and said that there was a possibility that Will could begin work after all in TeKauwhata if they could get an ok from the NZ medical board.  If she gets approval, then we would fly on Sunday or Monday to Hamilton on the north island which is close to TeKauwhata.

Who knows where our next blog will come from!