Sun

Okay, so we all knew it was coming eventually, what with hemisphere differences and all. Here we go anyways: I am writing this from a sun-soaked beach in Napier, North Island. It is very hot, there is sunshine and we recently took a drive along a palm-lined avenue reminiescent of the Sunset Strip. It is possible ice-cream will become involved in the near future. Their is a lido and sun deck to the right and a lifeguard station to the left - although, the lifeguards do appear to be fishing en masse on the beach...mind you, no-one is actually swimming in the sea due to the prevalence of sharks in this area, so they probably don't have to much to do anyway.
The last three days have been bereft of internet signal, so, apologies.
We drove on towards Abel Tasman, which meant driving through Nelson again. We were both excited about this - in the last months or so of constant transit, returning to a place we had visited before was a novelty! We did our grocery shop and then onwards again! We arrived in Marahau, the tiny town at the edge of the Abel Tasman National Park and booked our kayaks for the day after. Then, we enjoyed the rest of the day by wandering up and down the sweeping, intensely golden beach and looking at the rock pools housing tiny crabs. They have shells here like England has pebbles, in every pastel hue you can imagine and probably some more that haven't been named yet.
We had to be up early the next day to check out weather conditions and decide if we still wanted to go out on the waves. Luckily, the sun dawned bright, the sky clear and the sea calm. After a safety briefing and practice session that lasted 2 hours, we were released in our kayak, onto the coastline trail of Abel Tasman.
Kayaking is hard work. Attired in neoprene splash-skirts and lifejackets, knees crooked under the rim of the fibreglass craft, we paddled the hard way, straight out into the bay across to Fisherman's Island. The water was so clear you could see right down to the wavy patterned sand beneath us. As it got deeper, the surface turned an inky green and bit rougher. We slogged on, the land appearing to get no nearer at all! Eventually we reached the island and were rewarded with sights of a large sea bird (a Black Crested Shag for those in the know) drying its wings in the sun. We zoomed onwards to Adele Island in the hopes of seeing some seals but alas, it was not to happen, they head headed off round the side and due to westerly winds we had been advised against going to the west coast of the islands. We paddled back towards the mainland coast, stopping on a golden beach for lunch. We sat on a sun-bleached tree trunk and nibbled our sandwiches and fruit, then paddled in the clear aqua water for a bit. Thousands of tiny silver fish were darting around the shallows and clusters of shells opened and closed under the surface in the wave motion.
We paddled on, keeping close to the beautiful coastline and exploring caves and looking at the wildlife. Colourful rocks under the water reared up and had to be constantly watched out for so we didn't beach ourselves or damage the kayak. We stopped at another beach and had a bit of a sunbathe and an exploration of the shoreline by foot. As it started to approach 3, we decided to start back as we had to return the kayak by 4. We paddled swiftly, starting to get really tired arms, but we made it back and cannily avoided having to drag the thing up the beach by riding a tiny inlet of water round to the tractor that came to collect returning kayaks.
We went to the Marahau campsite and had five minute showers for a dollar. Once no longer sandy or salty, we made ourselves some dinner and had a long conversation with a random local who was touring the campsite asking about people's experiences of NZ for a website called 'rankers'.

The next day was to be our last in South Island for the time being. It was another spectacularly lovely day and we set off early in the morning, reaching Nelson again before 10. We booked a ferry and made it to Picton in plenty of time, despite revisiting the most heinously steep and windy roads through the Queen Charlotte Sounds and two seperate landslides. We even got stuck behind an old bus trying to navigate the twists and turns. At one point, it was going so slowly we actually came to a halt. Nevertheless, we got to the ferry and boarded without issue.
This time round, we went with 'Bluebridge' ferries - a cheaper ticket, but a much smaller ship, with the emphasis on getting to the North Island, not sightseeing, which was a shame, we hadn't realised the difference. We got a good seat on the deck though and watched the Marlbourough Sounds recede and the North Island open up to us again.
We were hoping to catch the fireworks in Wellington and once arrived we managed to find parking, get bags together for enjoying the evening and head out to find food. We settled with a Subway as the food courts close after 5 and only the posh restaurants seemed to be open. Sadly, after we finished our sandwiches, we discovered that the 6th was only the postponement date for the fireworks and they had actually aired the night before. Oh well.
We drove on for a fair way, looking for a place to stop for the night as there is no such place anywhere near Wellington, as we discovered last time. Luckily, following the East Coast highway (Highway '2') turns out to have lots of picnic spots, so we spent a nervous night at one of those - nervous due to some sort of cow/goose/dog/donkey creature outside the car making the most awful noises you have ever heard.

This morning, we bizarrely woke up even earlier than usual (about 7) and cruised off down the highway towards Napier. This has got to be the most boring and uninteresting drive that has presented itself to us since being in New Zealand, or even, since I passed my test. Just a long, flat highway, surrounded by variously flat green fields and rolling green hills. Every so often, there was a vineyard.
Finally, we arrived in Napier. Now, this was of interest because in our original travel plan, it was high on the list to serve as our base for working. It turns out that Napier is indeed very, very nice. A weird cross between Paris, America and Art Deco Land, we traversed the streets of pavement cafes and palm lined avenues. We have stolled the Marine Parade along a strecth of pleasant (if shark-infested) coastland. We are now laying out in the sun for a bit. Alex had a moment of extreme activity in which he fired off about 50 emails to potential employers. Between us, we have now accumulated quite the list of contacts in the great job search. Hopefully, one will bear fruit. (Haha. Fruit-picking jobs...bear fruit...).

I'm sorry for spelling oddities or anything - the sun is so bright I can't see the screen! I know, I know, what stress!