Time’s Up for the North

Dec. 30 After waking up in our hotel, we pack the clown car and drive to Wellington.  It takes us about 5 1/2 hours.  The kids were troopers as they were encased in boogie boards, not the most comfortable trip.  We decide to Hotwire a hotel and then head out to eat a meal.  McDonald’s is literally the only option as everything is closed ,arghhhh.  It was a Sunday evening and we didn’t get to experience much of Wellington since everything was shut down for the evening.

Dec 31- We get up, re-pack our suitcases, as we need to check them in on the Bluebridge Ferry and head over to the terminal.  The Ferry across the Cook Strait is like a rolling Postcard, so beautiful.  Once again our cameras fail to catch all the beauty!  We are now on the South Island, we get our car, a brand new Toyota Corolla.  We try to pack it but the boot (trunk) is way smaller then our previous car.  The kids will need to have three luggage and boogie boards on them.  After, talking with the car rental office they upgrade us to a Rav 4.  We have so much room now we don’t know what to do with ourselves.  We connect with our place in Nelson to stay only to be told that they are full!  Hmmmm……homeless on New Years Eve.  After searching the local hostels, we find one that has 5 beds left.  2 in the girls dorm and 3 in the boys dorm.

Staying in Picton for New Years proved to be great!  They had food trucks in the bay with kids activities and live bands.  We managed to stay for the midnight firework display over the bay, really cool!

January 1st, 2019 Happy New Year!

We scoured the northern tip of the South Island, trying to find a place to stay for a couple days.  After hours of searching we found a place 4 1/2 hours away in Christchurch.  We booked it for the week and this is where we are!  – Shawn