It’s nice to be back in Nelson, a familiair town by now. I go to the Starbucks and update the blog, check my e-mail and have some coffee. I’m not quite sure what to do next. I’ve seen most of what I wanted to see and still have 2,5 weeks here in New Zealand. One of my friends brings up the idea to go back home earlier and I look into that. It could be an option as well, but I’m not sure yet. At least today I’ll have a relaxed day here in town. I drove enough yesterday, so I don’t plan to drive much today.

In the afternoon I walk through town, get something to eat and then decide to go to Picton to take the ferry back to the North Island. Before this trip I had thought I would stay longer at the South Island, but since I’m here already anyway, I better just go back North. I buy a ticket and get in line to go on the ferry. After waiting a while, a friendly guy walks by all the cars to tell that there is a delay. I ask if I can take the ferry of tomorrow morning instead and that is no problem. He even tells me I can just park my car next to the office and stay here for the night. I like that idea and so I’ll take the ferry tomorrow morning early at 8am. I think this is much better actually than taking the ferry tonight and having to find a hotel late at night in Wellington. Now I’ll be early tomorrow at the North Island, so I have a full day to see where I’ll be going.

The South Island is great and spectacular. The mountains are beautiful and you can hike a lot here. Being here in Spring is taking a risk with the weather, but also makes sure you’re here before the big touristic crowds. I wasn’t so lucky with the weather, but I had a few sunny days. My highlights of the South Island are hiking at Mount Cook, staying at the Hippo Lodge in Queenstown for a week and visiting some of the locations of the Lord of the Rings movies. If I ever come back here, I would go to Queenstown, because it’s a good location to visit many beautiful places from. Places like Mount Cook, Glenorchy and the Mavora lakes are less than a day drive away and so easy to visit from Queenstown. I could have spend more time on the South Island, but it’s hard to guess how long some road trips take and now I find myself ready to go back to the North Island.