South Island!

Arriving in Wellington was fairly easy though our first encounter with the iSite lady was a bit trying. ISite is the tourist info places scattered around the country that usually are very helpful and can actually get you booked in at places all around the country not just in their local area. We used iSite in Wellington to find out where the ferry was and get ourselves a hotel for the night. Of course the lady thought we were absolute bonkers for thinking we could just buy a ticket for the ferry when we got to the terminal and told us that you can only buy them online or at the iSite. Needless to say there was a ticket terminal at the ferry, oh well crazy iSite lady.
The evening of Nov 1 we had a lovely dinner with relatives (or rellies) of Ben's mom's cousin. New Zealand lamb, NZ wine and good conversation made our last night on the North Island a good one. We joked with Justin and Louise that maybe in 20 years we'll be hosting one of their children (who are currently 3&1 1/2 years) in the Bay Area.
Tuesday morning found on us the ferry and heading towards the South Island. While on board we met a couple from Berkeley who own a vacation rental in NZ and pointed us in the right direction for some good wineries.
Of course we had to stop at both recommended places and sample/buy some wine and lunch. Tasting prices here are super cheap (NZ$2-3) and you get to try 5-6 different kinds of wine. The first winery we went to Johaneshof we unsurprisingly ran into the Berkeley couple and traded more Bay Area stories. The woman worked in the lab at Kaiser Oakland and said if I ever wanted to come over she's try and help! They also gave the tip, that bringing back more than 2 bottles of wine is okay as if customs makes you pay duty on it it's between 25 and 45 cents per bottle. Not too shabby. So of course we bought some Reislings and Gewürztraminers and then headed onto the next place, St. Clairs for lunch and some more tastings.

St. Clair Winery

We are still heading to Queenstown and need to get there by tomorrow evening, of course that didn't stop us from pulling off the road to check out the fur seal colony and take pictures.

"You stepped on my tail!" "I did not!"


Fur seal!

Last night we stopped in Kaikoura to eat and sleep. Kaikoura is a beautiful seaside town overlooked by snowcapped mountains, pretty amazing.

Kaikoura


On a side note, I've seemed to catch a cough/cold somehow (I must be so relaxed!) and am hoping it goes away soon! The local seafood chowder has helped sooth the scratchiness though!