Ferry from Welington to Picton then to Blenheim

Wednesday, 22 October

My 8am ferry was delayed til 10am – not a big deal as I got more sleep and had a nice egg and toast breakfast with Barry and Fiona.

Perfect day for sailing – here are some pics of the roughly 3 hour ride from the north to the south island:

Once in Picton, I stopped at the i-SITE to arrange my excursion to the Queen Charlotte Track for Friday, then cycled a quick and incredibly easy 30km (almost all flat the way there – the most flat stretch I’ve done yet) to Blenheim. I didn’t originally have Blenheim in my plans, but I ended up really wanting to fit this in and do a tour of the various vineyards in the area. I’m so glad I did it!

Once I arrived in Blenheim I still had energy and felt a bit lazy… I had spent the previous days in a car (all day) in a train (all day) in Wellington (all day) and on a ferry for half a day. The 30km was easy… so before heading over to Julie’s aunt and uncle’s house (who graciously offered to host me at their house – even though they run a backpacker’s hostel in the city) I looked up a CrossFit box and went to my first CF session in many weeks.

It was good fun – a cardio CF session, so they all body weight stuff with lots of jump-roping, running, burpees, and of course, burpee box-jumps. Met some cool people and spent a long time stretching and rolling afterwards… what a difference that makes!!! I felt like I had a new set of knees after this… haha.

Julie’s uncle Rob and aunt Diana were great. Diana had dinner with friends, so Rob made dinner and as he cooked and we eat, we talked non-stop about traveling, the many different countries we’ve both been to, and life in general. What I truly love best about this trip is all of the amazing people I’ve met and being able to get a glimpse into so many peoples’ lives. Really enjoyed talking with Rob.