Thursday, March 10th.... BYE BYE South Island

And I must admit it was sad to leave Blenheim and our new friends, Gary and Trish.  What super lovely people!

Being their guests will truly be a highlight of our trip.  And seeing the Southern Cross for the first time with Gary will be a treasured memory.  Did you know they can see Orion's Belt just like we can, but they look North while we (in the USA) look South?  Yet we don't see the Southern Cross and they can't see the Big Dipper or Little Dipper.  I will never look at Orion again without thinking of our new friends "down under" (do Kiwi's really say this?).

We were given a chance to relax this morning as our Interislander Ferry was delayed.  Didn't find that out until AFTER we had all woken up early at 5:30 am, but it was so nice to to have the extra time to lounge.  So we enjoyed another yummy breakfast from our host friends and then said our goodbyes at 10:00 am.

It was only about 30 minutes to Pichton where we dropped the car and boarded the Ferry.  And WHAT a TREAT to be in the Premium Plus Lounge where they had super comfy seats and complimentary food and drink.  It only cost $45.00 NZD more per person and we took full advantage!

 

Plenty of New Zealand wines to be tasted 

 

An the food was quite tasty!

 

It took about 3 and 1/2 hours to get across the Cook Strait.  It became REALLY WINDY and VERY CHOPPY, but we all loved it.

So .... remember how our place in Wellington was cancelled just a few days ago and we had to find a new place?  Well Dennis did a BRILLIANT job finding Puds Inn, about 1.5 hours drive north of Wellington on the west coast (at Waikanae Beach).  But first we had to get ourselves through Wellington.  OMGOSH .... we are back in the REAL WORLD.

Tony has never been in a big city... ha-ha

 

It was LOUD and WINDY with a credit card that wouldn't work because the Hertz computer failed.  They had to hand write the car rental agreement.  In this age... really?

 

Our new place wasn't so easy to get to with THE TRAFFIC.  Only 1 million Kiwi's live on the South Island, while THREE million live on the north island.  What a SHOCKER after the beauty and peace we have been in for the past 2.5 weeks! 

So we get through the traffic and stop at Dennis' favorite grocery store, Countdown, to get stocks for the next few days.  The guys go in themselves and Carrie and I stayed in the car thinking it would be faster for everyone concerned.  We told Dennis to "lock us in the car" which seemed fine at the time.  But after awhile, we felt like we couldn't breathe so we tried to get out of the car.  But when we tried to open the car doors, the car alarm started blaring and we were truly LOCKED IN.  How embarrassing .... even the local New Zealand Police came to see what was happening.  We thought it was hilariously funny ...

 .... but the guys did not really see the humor.  Guess you had to have been there. 

Then to make it worse, the GMS phone went dead and we couldn't find the house.  You know how THAT goes with my husband!  We stopped two different times and Carrie and I asked for directions to 91 Field Way and FINALLY we arrived.  We all went our separate ways .... the Cardan's DIRECTLY to the beach for a long walk finding clams, and I went upstairs to watch the waves ...

We're right on the beach.  Just walk over a tiny sand dune to be directly on this lovely sandy beach



We're PRAYING for a calm day tomorrow.  But if not, we'll still make the most of this lovely location and comfy home.  As we head off to bed at 11:00 pm, the wind is howling and the surf is super rough.  Batten down the hatches!  Good night to all.