Feb 15, 2008 South Island, New Zealand

So I arrived by GIANT ferry today from Wellington in the North Island to Picton in the South Island.
(Wellington, if you didnt know, is the capital of New Zealand). I dove my car onto the ferry - oh did I tell you I was driving? :) very well I might add! After my first day of horror, everything just came together. I still have to think about little lefts and big rights, but for the most part I'm doing great. I have tried to enter the car from the left side about 3 times now - which is pretty good considering I've been driving for 5 days! No one seemed to notice and I totally played it off like I was getting something from the passenger seat - wink wink. Oh, but I did want to tell you a story about my drive in Coromendel. So it's day 2 of driving on this narrow, windy crazy road, where I'm on the left and I'm driving a huge SUV, and generally still uncomfortable. So I'm going east from Coromendel to the next town over on the east coast and then heading south. So i take this little road b/c it's shorter than taking the main road and about 10 minutes in, the sign says gravel next 20 km - seriously? I didn't know how long 20km was going to take me but at 40km/hr - well you do the math - on a dirt/gravel road. So i drive, 10 min go by and I'm thinking, 'what the hell am i doing?' logging trucks are squeezing me into the side of a mountain and dirt and gravel is flying everywhere and god forbid I get a flat or get stuck or freak out. But I'm breathing thru it and I get into the swing of the road - literally. I'm doing well until I come to a bright orangy-red reflective sign w/ a big exclamation point (!) on it. WTF - ! is right. what does that mean? Like 'oh shit - run for cover', 'or what is your dumbass doing out here?', or 'can i get a woop woop?' More to come when you see the picture.

Anyway, it's absolutely stunning here. Picton is a picturesque little town right on the water. This is where the Marlborough Sounds are - it totally reminds me of the San Juan Islands in Washington state. The huge mountains are only accentuated by the blue/green sea. I can't even take enough pictures to capture the beauty. I'm staying a a little B&B in Waikawa Bay - it's so cute, the owner, Rosemary asked if I wanted a spot of tea when I arrived...of course I said yes, b/c I'm just trying to soak it in and do the right thing. So she brings this tray down w/ the pot of tea and a slice of cake served with the most amazing yogurt I've ever tasted. Plain yogurt and cake, I know it sounds weird, but it was perfectly delicious.

I drove around for a bit, (b/c now I can do that w/o breaking into a sweat) and I'm in downtown Picton, which is one street about 6 blocks long :) Tomorrow I booked myself on an all day winetasting tour - hell ya! Because that's what they do here - they grow grapes! there are about 50 wineries in the area, I'm hoping we'll hit half.
So now that my blog is official, I'll try to update more often. Check back for more news from down unda'