Picton

Day 1: Early morning bus and we were delighted to be back with Mangee. Bex's bus had continued south the previous day but, whilst we were glad to see the back of her, most of the annoying characters from her bus had also spent an extra night in Wellington. This meant we would likely be staying with them for the entire south island unless we waited for the next one in 2 days time.

With this in mind, the 5 of us decided to stay in Picton for a couple of days to visit Wine country, once we had got the ferry back onto the south island. It was a shame that we couldn't stay with Mangee but we couldn't have handled doing the south island with that same group. It gave us a good excuse to visit the Wine region though - one of the areas New Zealand is most famous for. Erika had already planned to pay a visit to this part of the country and she was fantastic at arranging us a really nice place to stay and a driver-guide to take us for a day of wine tasting. Not much of an expert myself but I was looking forward to it regardless.

Our guide, Dave, picked us up at lunchtime and instantly took us into the Marlborough region, which produces 70% of New Zealand's wines. We lined our stomachs first before spending the whole afternoon visiting a distillery, 6 wine vineyards and a local Brewery. Like I say, I'm far from an expert but the Reisling was definately my favourite wine of those we tasted. We also had some nice Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc, which both went down pretty well. We had a great laugh pretending we knew what we were talking about and getting quite tipsy in the process.

The trip finished with the Brewery visit and I definately felt more at home there trying out all the local Beers and Ales. A nice end to a really enjoyable day as Dave took us back into Picton. We were all pretty glad we had paid Wine country a visit, except Casey perhaps, who isn't much of a drinker and decided early on that the wine wasn't his thing. Haha.

That evening, after sobering up a bit, we headed into the small town of Picton to sample one of the Indian restaurants - very nice too and another first for our Canadian friends. Following that, we headed back to our guesthouse to chill in the hot tub. A well-earned evening of relaxation.

Day 2: My day began very early as I got up at 4am to watch the FA Cup final. The less said about that the better! More interesting was my terrifying encounter with a Possum as I made my way towards the lounge area. I didn't know what it was at first and so was pretty scared when it sprinted towards the glass doors just as I was getting in. Luckily, I managed to close them in time and I survived. Terrifying though!

Getting up again at a much more normal hour, Cahal, Courtnie, Casey and myself had another day to kill in Picton (Erika was hardcore and headed out for another full day of wine-tasting). We hung around the hostel for a bit and were in the middle of a game of pool when we felt the games room roof shake. It only lasted a couple of seconds so we didn't think much of it. Something just running across it perhaps. 5 minutes later, Gordon, the hostel owner asked us if we had felt the earthquake. We all thought he was joking at first but he wasn't and they apparently get small ones like that on a regular basis. Another first for me so I can now say that I survived an earthquake and a Possum attack all within the space of a few hours!

Late morning, the 4 of us headed into Picton for a stroll around town and so Courtnie & Casey could get some souvenirs. Only a tiny town bit it's pretty nice. Afterwards, we all went for a game of mini-golf before visiting the Edwin Fox Maritime Museum - home to the world's 9th oldest ship. They have the whole thing on display so we took a walk around and explored, which was pretty cool.

That evening, after first laughing at how drunk Erika had come back, we cooked ourselves a nice BBQ before taking advantage of the hot-tub once more and then watching a film. Then, I stayed up with Cahal until the early hours to see if Man City dropped any points. He's a United fan and was hoping for the best but ended up disappointed. Needless to say, my disappointment was much less.

A really enjoyable couple of days in Picton and a welcome break from the daily intensity of the Kiwi-Bus. Erika had found us a really homely place to stay and the owners made us feel very welcome. Back on the bus tomorrow though and with a new driver. Nothing like Bex please!