So far...

At this point, Ashley and I are doing a bit of waiting. In order to work we need our tax numbers, which should arrive any day now. As soon as that happens we'll get jobs working for one of the many vineyards in the area.

Having a few days off, we drove to Nelson on Monday morning. The trip is just over 100km, which isn't very far, but took us a few hours because of stops and the terrain. Bob and Marj's place is situated on the edge of the Wairau valley. The way to Nelson is across the valley, then into steadily more mountainous areas as it gets closer to the northern coast and the sounds region. I drove Marj and Bob's toyota Hilux, which is a jeep/suv type of vehicle. I'm actually surprised at how quickly I've gotten used to driving here with so many differences: left side of the road, gear shift on the left, speed limits in km, not quite the power steering I'm used to, and most of all roundabouts. There are barely any street lights and the roundabouts can be a little nerve wracking at first, but they seem to move traffic along pretty well. It's nice to never have to wait when there are no other cars around.

Arriving in Nelson we had lunch on the beach, then went to the Japanese Garden, which was very relaxing in the light rain that fell. Couldn't resist a ride through the cemetery across the street, which provided some pretty stunning views of the coast. Just down the road we stopped in at the only Organically Certified Brewery in New Zealand and had a tour and tasting. We both liked all four beers. Ashley even liked the black lager which I liked the best. After that we headed to the city centre and caught and movie, then ate at a Thai restaurant. After some deliberation we found a spot to park the Hilux for the evening and climbed into the back for a somewhat cramped, but workable sleeping quarters.

Tuesday morning we got breakfast at nice cafe on the Matai River, then spent some time walking around Nelson, looking at the Anglican Cathedral and going through some shops. We took a short hike to the Centre of New Zealand, which wasn't much, but gave a great view of the city. After lunch we headed out of Nelson. On the way back we took the scenic route to Picton, a small town nearby. The road took us through parts of the Marlborough Sounds. I didn't get to see all of the beauty because the road didn't ever go straight. It was basically 20km of constantly swinging the wheel back and forth, which was pretty fun. We spent the afternoon walking around Picton, then had a great dinner at Le Cafe (the same restaurant we went to our first day) and chatted with the owner for a while. I might be playing music there at some point in the future. We returned to Blenheim that evening, getting to bed just before ten, which is much later than we usually stay up.

I'll have pictures from the Nelson trip up soon. For now, Happy 4th of July. Blow something up for us...