The Real Jess

September 29 2011

Mark and I woke up to the sounds of a car pulling up to our campsite: Phil had gotten off work early and came back out to Ruby bay to meet us. He was even kind enough to help Michelle take her tent down… while she was still in it! 

We also saw a crazy trailer someone had made to look like a house (actually, we saw a few of these on our trip) and played on the flying fox before heading home. 

On September 28th Michelle, Mark and I went camping in a place called Ruby Bay, maybe an hour drive from Nelson. Phil came with us too, but didn’t stay as he had to work early the next morning. We chose our site, set up camp, made a tasty dinner (see next post), and had a few tasty beverages at the same time. We also met a dog for whom we threw pinecones into the ocean. 

September 27 2011, Italy 27 vs USA 10

We went to the Italy vs USA game in Nelson supporting the Italians, mostly because, as Canadians, we support two teams: Canada, and anyone playing against the US. It seems we were mostly seated among American supporters, though few of them actually appear to have come from the US. In fact, many of the groups of fans were supporting opposing teams. It was a very lively crowd though, and a better game than the score makes it out to be (though we were fairly certain ahead of time who would be the victors of this match). There was a very impressive round of ‘the Mexican Wave,’ as I’ve learned that it’s called.

After the game, we met up with Michelle’s (and now our) friend Jo, and walked with her back to Michelle’s place where we hung out and had some drinks. Good times. 

September 23 2011

Sparkles and Sunset with my pals Michelle and Phil (and Mark behind the camera).

On September 17, after getting up and having breakfast with Janice and saying our goodbyes, we went to the Southland Museum and Art Gallery in Invercargill. We were mostly interested in the tuatara, but there were lots of other cool things there too. There was a ton of maori artifacts made of wood, bone, stone and other things. We saw Henry, a tuatara believed to have been born in the late 1800’s!!! Henry even has his own blog! We also saw a display on Burt Monro, The World’s Fastest Indian, a man who used to make motorcycles in NZ and who broke all sorts of land speed records (one of them still stands today!). The last picture above is a replica of one of the Indian Scout bikes that Burt altered to go so fast. Cool stuff!

On the 17th we got up early and got on the road right away towards Invercargill where we would be spending the night (and watching rugby!) It was only a few hours drive from Cromwell (which we opted not to stop in for more than gas, but to return to on our way back up the island), and despite being warned against it, we did stop briefly in Gore. Apparently Gore is a dump, but the McDonalds was alright?

These pictures were all taken between Christchurch and Lake Tekapo on September 16.

More of the area between Kaikoura and Cheviot.

Some of the waves we see out there are just BEGGING to be surfed!

Mark and I pulled over on the side of the road somewhere after Kaikoura where it was windy as can be (as you can tell from me hiding), but absolutely gorgeous.