To Wellington

Lovely hostel deep in the River Valley. A great place to get away from it all and just live with nature and the elements.
We slept in bunks, 6 to a room in an outside chalet block with kitchen and toilets attached. The showers were outside In a barn! No mobile phone network and only limited internet.
This morning I drew back the curtain to find a beautiful sunny morning – what a difference a day makes!

I was being collected at 8.30 along with 5 others, to go horse trekking. I had had some difficulty choosing between trekking and white water rafting the day before but was glad I had made the right choice. Being on horseback high up on those New Zealand hills amongst sheep, cattle and deer with panoramic views of the mountain ranges, was just heaven, and it was the most perfect warm spring morning. What more could anyone ask for?

These horses had been trained Perelli style (I hope I’ve spelt that correctly), which means they don’t use conventional bridles, just halters without bits. I was impressed how responsive the horses were just to slight pressure and rein movement.

I could perhaps do the white water rafting in Queenstown I was told.

We left River Valley Lodge at 1pm for Wellington, a long drive but with a couple of stops. Bulls was the town to stock up with provisions at Pik n Save. This town will be remembered for its quirky illustrations outside shops reflecting the town’s name.

I think we passed through Oxford although I missed the sign, but many shops had “…. of Oxford” next to their names. Will have to check it out later. As we arrived in the village of Otaki for our loo stop, I noticed that the temperature was a nice 26 degrees. 90k later at 6pm we checked in at the Nomads Hostel in Wellington.

This looked a promising sort of city where I would like to spend more time but I still had the whole of the South Island to investigate in just 3 weeks, so was eager to press on the next day.

Nomads was a busy city hostel and I feared it would be very noisy like Auckland which indeed it was. They were offering a free dinner. Huh!! when it came, it was a small pile of rocket with 6 dry noodles and a small slice of dried bread. So after a drink or so with my young buddies in the bar (oh yes, I tried vodka and cranberry – very nice), I decided to make myself a proper meal – a bowl of pasta with Bolognese sauce and a good helping of cheese on the top. Well, it was ok, filled a gap. I then joined some of the girls who were staying on in Wellington in their room where we shared a bottle of wine or two. One of them, Louise, would be heading back to Auckland where she’d met a local boy!

As the noise intensified in the large bar (I found out later it was someone’s birthday), I decided to have an early night. Silly idea, I could hear the base volume banging on the floor of my room shaking my bunk, as well as the city noise outside the window. Hey ho! I guess the bar must have closed at some point because I did actually get some sleep eventually.