I woke up early in my dorm room in Picton. Today I wanted to reach Nelson as soon as possible to meet up with my good friend Julia (you might remember her from previous escapades).
Because the bus to Nelson was only leaving around noon I wanted to beat this by hitchhiking my way there. During my time on the North Island I’ve seen my share of backpackers hitchhiking along the way. So, I packed my bags again and walked down the main road in Picton that leads to the Highway 1.
I must admit the first ride was the hardest. Some competition further down the road and not a lot of traffic heading down this way is making me think of taking the bus after all. But then my first ride stops and asks me where I’m going. After sharing my final destination of the day he offers me a ride until Blenheim. Sounds good to me. At least I’m out of this starting point.
Meet Bill, an architect who has been on a lot of adventures himself but now settled down in Blenheim. He drops me off on a busy road at the intersection of Highway 1 and Highway 6.
Thumbs up ! Time passes but no car is stopping anymore. I decide to relocate to a better spot where they can pick me up and encounter another hitchhiker, Fritz. He looks agitated with my arrival but I follow the unofficial guidelines of the hitchhiker and wait in line until he catches a ride. Trying to make conversation doesn’t seem to interest him as he is keeping his eyes on the road and up to the morning sky that is getting darker.
As I am grabbing something out of my backpack Fritz seemed to have luck and got a ride. Without having me aboard he just flees with his new ride. Thanks for the invitation Fritz, Auf Wiedersehen, maybe not…
And then it starts raining.
An elderly lady passes by and sees me getting wet and picks me up to prevent me from getting a nasty flu. I am grateful. 5 minutes down the road she stops the car and tells me she is home. At least she gave me shelter for a couple minutes and brought me to another place to catch a new ride.
Not much later a new ride stops to pick me up, Tyler. Tyler just finished his shift at the gas station and is on his way to the Pelorus Bridge where he is meeting with his dad to go hiking in the area. We talk about what great of country New Zealand is as we drive through Havelock, a town that dedicated its soul to the Green Mussel.
At the Pelorus Bridge, famous from the barrel scene with the dwarves in The Hobbit I thank Tyler and try to find my next ride. In the meantime the bus already left Picton so I hope to at least beat the arrival time of the bus I was gonna take today.
Half an hour of standing there around the corner of the bridge until a couple picks me up. Jessica and Lucas. They are on their way to Cable Bay and can help me a bit further. They give me really helpful tips about bars and please to go in Nelson.
They drop me off at a lonely gas station right before their exit to Cable Bay. It seems like a good spot to catch a ride and not much later Boris pulls over. I opened the door and asked if he was going to Nelson. He mumbled with a very low voice. I guess that was a yes. Boris was a man of few words and a road temper on a fuse but soon enough I learned he had a good heart when he wanted to drop me off in Nelson but I couldn’t figure out where the hostel was. He drove me through the town twice and tried to make some calls before I ended up at the right place. We say a brief farewell.
Time to check in my hostel. Really liked the atmosphere here at Tasman Bay Backpackers. Not much later Julia knocks on my door and we go explore Nelson. We end up on top of the hill with nice views over Nelson. Enough exploring for today. Time for a drink before we go home as I have a early bus leaving tomorrow to Franz Josef, my new home for the new couple of months.
A great place to go for a drink in town would be Sprig & Fern
Well… with Julia it’s never just A drink… before we know it we are into the seventh consecutive happy hour of the night… The last moments of the night are still a vague memory but I believe there was some pool games involved. See you next time Julia ! Together with Ron, a dutch guy from my hostel we make our way back to the hostel.
A few hours later the alarm goes off again. Did I even sleep ?
Oh these Nelson Nights…
Off to the Bus Station for a long but scenic ride to Franz Josef !
The World on a Wim 