There and Back Again...: Four Yanks on a ‘Top of the South’ Adventure…Where are the keys again?

The week after our camping trip in the Sounds was spent preparing for our first American visitors arriving that Friday. We met Kylie and Tyler in Picton after their day in Wellington and ferry ride through the sounds. What kind of hosts would we be if there wasn’t beer and wine chilling in the fridge waiting for us at the hotel…after a few adult beverages, a walk through Picton township and some woodfired pizzas with more additional adult beverages, it was off to bed. Needless to say, the weekend was off to a great start.

Saturday morning we packed up the Adventureship and headed off to the first destination of the day; the Brancott wineries. Brancott has proved to be our staple wine from the Marlborough region…and is also a wine that Kylie often buys at Costco, who would’ve thought.

After a morning wine tasting session (great way to start the day), it was time to head to Blues Brews and BBQ’s. An annual event in Blenheim that draws a wide variety of people all looking to enjoy the same thing, some good music, classic kiwi food and of course to throw back some cold ones, which they do a lot of apparently. As you walk into the event, a sign reading “The future of this event is determined by your behaviour today” pretty much sums up what you’re in for. With a pocketful of brew bucks we headed off to grab a drink and enjoy the incredible people watching. There’s something about kiwis and dressing up that they just can’t get enough of. Kylie and Tyler happened to be in Wellington the day of the Rugby 7’s tournament (a huge deal in the rugby world) where drunken rugby fans dress to the nines in wild costumes and infiltrate the city centre in drunken disorder. Blues Brews and BBQ’s is a less classy event where you can find yourself thinking “I really wish I hadn’t seen that”…But lets be honest, that’s the best kind of people watching. After spending the afternoon trying a variety of beers, trying a short and curly (whitebait) and dancing our booty’s off, it was time to head out for some hobbit hunting.

Chillin in H. Hobbits Tub

The hairy hobbit cottage, as some of you may have seen on Facebook, was just as fabulous as we were hoping. Fully equipped with an outdoor bath and of course a small hobbit hole at the end of the path, we were in heaven. Unfortunately Mr. H Hobbit didn’t seem to be around, his door was locked, and it was determined he must have been on holiday. The view from the cottage (even though it was a bit overcast) was simply amazing, spanning all the way to the ocean. We spent the evening grilling up veggies and mussels for our famous linguine. A good nights rest was in order, Sunday was going to be a big day.

We woke up to rain on Sunday which made me question whether our kayak trip planned for that day in Abel Tasman was actually going to happen. The phone number to call and check the reservation was in the car, and conveniently enough, the keys had vanished. (I thought for a moment H. Hobbit was playing a trick on us and nicked them.) But no, we searched and searched and searched…and of course, they were found in the most obvious place – thank goodness. One of our quotes of the trip “Where are the keys?”continued to be a constant query for the rest of the time Ky and Ty were here.

A bit hazy, we made our way down the crazy steep road - that the adventureship almost didn’t make it up – from the cottage toward Kaiteriteri. After realizing we were in the wrong place (oops shannon), we hopped back in the car and headed to Marahau for a very informative hour and a half tutorial on how to kayak. BORING. After that, we spent the day exploring the beaches, watching the seals do…absolutely nothing…and overall enjoying being outside and doing something active! We made our way back to shore, hopped in the Adventureship and headed for Nelson. A quick stop in Motueka, we shared with our guests some traditional fish and chips as well as a couple of NZ meat pies. Not super healthy, but delicious nonetheless.

View from Princes Drive, just up the road from home.

We arrived back home, introduced Ky and Ty to our flatmates, then got ready for an amazing dinner at the Boatshed (thanks again for the treat guys, great time). In our almost completely private attic room, we dined on amazing food while overlooking the bay. A perfect end to a great day. That evening, Kylie and I went hedgehog hunting, along with the help of our flatmate Marcus…and we were able to get quite a few good shots of the little buggers.

The next day was Superbowl Sunday (Monday for us) and thanks to Waitangi Day both John and I didn’t have to work. We spent the day watching the game, eating of course and just relaxing after what seemed to be a jam packed weekend. A quick afternoon trip to the beach was just what the doctor ordered after such a full on day. Then...after a phenomenal BBQ that night and a few wines, we decided we probably wouldn’t be well enough to go to work the next day…

SO, we headed to Renwick to wine taste with Kylie and Tyler instead! It was amazing, the second we hopped on those bikes to head to our first winery, we ended up feeling just fine. We spent the day biking from winery to winery, simply enjoying having two amazing friends come all the way from the states to hang out with us and experience what we’ve been living for the past 9 months. Because playing hooky two days in a row was a bit much for me, John and I headed back to Nelson and bid farewell to our American friends. We’ve been following the rest of their NZ and Australian adventures via Facebook and are so happy that they’re having such an incredible holiday. Miss you guys!

The rest of the week was painfully spent at work, a whole three days…and last weekend, we decided to lay low. We’re excited to have a couple of big things coming up. One, both of our last days at work…tomorrow! And two, a visit from Mama and Daddio Barz. We are so very excited to share NZ with you both and can’t wait to see you in 2 days!