Picton was a really small and quiet town, it's really just a passing through point for people coming off the ferry. The backpackers I stayed in, Tomstone Backpackers, was located outside of town across from the cemetery, hence the name. This place was the main reason I ended up staying for so long in Picton. First of all, YOU GOT TWO PILLOWS.. absolutely unheard of. Second there was a hot tub and it was just a really nice spot.
I was also trying to find a ride to Nelson, which didn't pan out but I enjoyed my three nights in Tomstone anyway, met some nice folk, successfully sewed a button to my pants etc. It rained quite a bit while I was there, obviously, so I stayed in and watched a lot of TV. I did end up going on two walks, one of them was 5 hours and the other was 1.5. The first one I took a nice stroll around the Victoria Domain, all the way to the "Snout", where you got a nice view of the Queen Charlotte Sound. Then the next day I went up Esson's Valley and got a nice view from above of Picton and the town right next to it. I took some nice pictures with my disposable camera but I still have a few left on there so they haven't been developed.
After all my failed attempts at getting rides, everyone else was going up north away from the winter, I decided to take a bus to Nelson (only $25). I also turned down a ride going the opposite direction I wanted to go, towards Kikoura, oh well. Once I got to Nelson I finally experienced what everyone was talking about before I arrived to the South Island....SAND FLIES...EVERYWHERE...ALL THE TIME. I quickly got accustomed to them and put on some long pants, a shirt, and my shoes...I wasn't in the North Island anymore =(. On my first night in Nelson I met Ralf, German from Hamburg, and a girl that I can't remember her name (it was like Simone but fancier), from Switzerland. I immediately turned on my charm (it's like a super power) and secured a ride down the west coast of the South Island. We weren't leaving for a few days as we had to wait for his friends to come back from Able Tasman (Sidenote: I kinda wanted to go to Able Tasman but never ended up going, I've already seen mad beaches here though so I'm not too upset), so we made some plans for the next few days. Obviously our plans to visit the Centre of New Zealand monument and some other hikes fell through because of the rain (are you sensing a pattern here?). But luckily we had a fall back plan, The Nelson Craft Beer Festival (Marchfest 2011). We also stopped off at a trolley race (box car race), which was pretty funny, few kids crashed lulz. Anyway, the Marchfest was awesome, good beer, REALLY good music (check all the bands out, except Chimuka, Barons of Tang were the best, I hugged them all after the show). We stayed there from 3pm - 10pm (pretty much open to close), great times. We then proceeded to the club until about 3am, I think I was drunk all day. Good thing we went to the club though so I could dance all the alcohol out of my system.
The next day it rained again, but I took a walk to the beach with a girl named Lilian (also German) so it wasn't all bad. Off to the west coast the next afternoon with the German Masters (Ralf, Eva, Konstantine, Andy [Sidenote: He's from the northern part of Italy where they speak German?! Who knew about this? They have to learn Italian in school though]). Let's Fetts!
Peace & Love
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