South Island – Abel Tasman

This was a long bus ride. There was a place to stop and do a three day hike, but seeing as how I had limited time to get back to Christchurch, I ventured on, and promised I’d go back one day. I really hope one day this does come true…and that I could become a permanent resident. We’ll see.

I had a horrible attitude this day. I remember it so clearly. It was pouring when we got to the hostel and the kitchen was beyond packed. I think Vanessa, Claire and I all fed off of each other’s negative attitudes, making the Old MacDonald Farm much worse than it should have been.

Other than booking our catamaran for the next day, we basically ate and went to sleep. There was one comical thing that happened. I don’t know why, but the Stray bus drivers like to tell little lies and see who is gullible. When we arrived, our driver told us that there was a new breed of an animal... it was a crossbreed of a sheep and a camel called a Shamel. We walked past them and Vanessa was arguing with this German guy who kept calling it a Llama instead of a Shamel. I’m not really sure when we realized we’d been duped, but I don’t think I’d laughed that hard in a long time. To top it off, Vanessa called her boyfriend and their convo went something like this:

“Hey, there is this animal here that is a crossbreed of a sheep and a camel…”

“You mean a Llama?”

Wow, we felt dumb.

Anyway, the next morning we woke up early and walked a half day to Anchorage Bay. The walk was so enjoyable – very green and blue. We had to meet the catamaran around noon so we tried to get there early enough to enjoy some time at the beach. When we reached the beach, I had a very blonde moment. We weren’t sure which way to go and I saw part of this sign that said, “Anchorage Bay – 5 mi—“. Without even looking at the rest of the sign, I thought it meant 5 miles and we all started freaking out. Upon a more careful observation, we read that it said 5 min, not miles.

Relaxing on the beach is one of my favorite things to do and I was actually sad to have to board the catamaran. It was a gorgeous ride back though. I wish I’d taken a class on how to sail…next time, right? I enjoy the ocean too much for my own good.