hey hey (its the hobos)

so we are now in golden bay! well nearly... currently in motueka. had some great days in blen with my ma and pa. ate some great food (cher mum!) had some great showers and spas and generally sorted our shit out. managed to catch up with my friend ingrid too which was rad. good luck for the job hunting ingy!
we also went down to our bach in the marlborough sounds on friday (went swimming - we're hardcore!) and then went out fishing (in the sounds again) on saturday. we caught a wee bit between us but my blue cod was the only edible one. still, a great day... esp coz we saw a gigantic pod of dolphins! we went and played with them and then they were swimming in the wake of the motor right behind the boat! like you could see the big grey masses under the water and if we'd had a large pole we totally would've been able to touch them!
this greatness continued on monday when we drove down to kaikoura and went for a walk with our icecreams on the beach when this lady starting yelling at us to look at something and we looked out at the sea and there was a WHALE!! woooooaaahh!! that NEVER happens. coolest thing ever eh. esp coz it was hardcore jumping right into the air and then it dived so we got the whole tail fluke thing too. there were a couple out there and you could see them spouting away. rad... i tell you the animal kingdom loves the van plan. we have had too many random occurences with them for it to be coincedence.

Beeeauuutiful!!! The view from the surf :)

Em & her board Charlie at Maungas

went for a surf in kaiks too. weellll... an extended paddle since we didn't actually catch anything but it was fun all the same. we rented booties too - genius! warm tootsies are great :) and also purchased a crayfish from the famous cays crays! i named him merv. he was delicious :)

Merv the crayfish

then drove to hamner and spent a whole morning (2hrs) in the thermal pools... mmmm.... and then took an extended drive to nelson area. on the way we nearly ran outta petrol!! haha!! got so freaked that when we were going down a big hill (not the hope saddle with those 35k corners) we turned the car off and cruised down!! hahaha!!! ah we can laugh about it now :) also stopped in at maruia falls which is the one all those crazy paddling people go off. the word - nuts - comes to mind....
are booked on the ferry to go to welly on saturday afternoon. prob a good thing coz i swear i could spent a whole month here alone! doesn't matter how much time you have its never enough.....
laters!

just some tales and phots from golden bay since i have otherwise missed it!...
we stayed at this gold little camping spot called mckees which is before mot. its something like $2 a person and has a fantastic view over towards nelson. heres a photo of em cooking brekky on the beach... a task we did at many fantastic locations!



our 1st proper day we decided to drive as far as we could and then make our way back. our initial plan was to go to abel tassie and maybe do some kayaking but that didn't happen. we'd both been there before anyway. never enough time!!! we battled over takaka hill - all without sounds as the stereo had eaten our cd - which led to a MAJOR case of vd (vague dissatisfaction) setting in. we went to pupu springs which just made it worse coz you can't touch the water!! do you know how tortuous it is seeing all that delicious clear water and not being able to touch it?!?!? eventually we got rid of the vd in the only way we knew how... we bought a 6pk and headed to the beach :) perfect! whilst there em practising her surfing pop up... i love this photo :)



stayed at pakawau that night and awoke to yet another beautiful day. it was so clear you could see over to farewell spit. that was a good day - we managed to fix the sounds! went to wharareki beach where there are sand dunes galore! unfortunately it was windy as hell at the beach and the sand felt like tiny razors hitting every available peace of skin! i battled on feeling like a desert explorer but em retired to the comfort of el capitan :)

Pakawau beach - looking towards Farewell Spit

we also stopped off at mapua - a wicked little seaside town with a definite hippy feel. while there we stumbled across an ice cream parlour called hamishs.... so you're in australia in the outback eh hamish? haha!!




captain jack also found a boat that he took a particular liking too. aarrgghh!! :)

so golden bay was rad. we both understood how people can go and never return. its a different pace and way of life for sure. we could've spent a lot more time there but it was time to venture onwards to the north island! cruised back through the queen charlotte drive, had a coffee in picton, and made our way across the strait on the blue bridge... which, by the way, kicks the interislanders ass!