Back on the South Island

Wow, where to begin..........   Well Sarah made it here safe and sound and to say I am excited would be an understatement.  My parents left me a rental car and Sarah and I drove from auckland down to the capital city, wellington.  We made a quick stop in Rotorua to go Zorbing.  It was an absolute blast.  Nothing like rolling down a hill in a huge ball filled with air and water with the person you love.  You should be really jealous.  After we went zorbing we went swooping which is a giant swing thing.  You free-fall for a bit and then swing out going like 160 kilometers per hour.  It was scary as hell.  

There was a huge reggae festival in rotorua that night so all the camp grounds and backpackers were full so we were forced to continue driving south.  We made it to lake taupo and camped on the lake at a holiday park.  It was a really gorgeous place to camp.  The next day we drove further south towards wellington.  We stopped and did a short hike to a lookout over a geothermal area.  Ridiculously blue lake below a giant bright red cliff.  It was something out of a bob ross painting.  We made it to wellington only to find that there was some sort of rugby tournament going on that night.  Once again all the backpackers were full.  It was quite a sight.  For some reason everyone wears costumes during this one day tournament/party.  Not only were they in costume but they were dressed up in groups.  It was weird as shit.  We saw a group of twenty dominos, a bunch of umpalumpas, and tons of other strange looking groups of people.  They really put a lot of time and money into their costumes.  Easily one of the strangest things I've ever seen.  Anyway we were once again forced to leave the city and drive back from whence we came.  We found an awesome camp site backed up to a mountain where we spent the night.  Today, we finally dropped of the car and caught the ferry to Picton.  We made it safely to the south island and have set up camp near town.  Tomorrow we are going to rent sea kayaks and go on a 3 or four day sea kayaking trip in the marlborough sounds.  Should be a whole lot of fun.  The sounds are filled with bays.  I was told if you spent a day in each bay, it would take like twenty years to see them all.  Needless to say I wont be on the internet for a few days.    Take care and I hope to be back soon.  Not to soon though,  I am going to soak this up.  

Go HERE for some sweet pictures