A new day, a new week, a new city. A breath of fresh air. I woke up at the ass crack of dawn this morning to figure out the bus system in Wellington to get me to the airport – only to give up before I even started and call a taxi instead. I have no shame. I’m carrying 60 pounds of crap on my body – I am perfectly comfortable treating myself to a cab here and there. All in the name of self love, of course.
And then I sat at the airport for two hours. But hey, I actually don’t mind that. I sat beneath an eerily large and realistic floating sculpture of Gollum (pictured below) and did some writing and reading.
The entire walk in from the terminal doors to the gate doors, I was waiting to be tackled and tazored because I never passed through a security line. I flinched and covered my face every time someone sped past me. Luckily, it never happened – I never went through security. Oh, New Zealand. I guess if you’re flying domestic, it ain’t no thang. No complaints here, I would have had to untie my shoes. I guess I didn’t have to dump out my water bottle either. Noted.
After the quick hop across the pond, I think 25 minutes of airtime total, I arrived in Nelson. Back to the south island for this chick – poor planning on my part, but I had to squeeze in a few more stops before I head back to the other side of the equator. I’ll be here for the next week, driving around my very first rental car. Yup. Watch out, world. I’m whippin’ a little Nissan Tiida (I didn't know what it was either) and I’m highly inexperienced driving on the left side of the road. Weoooo. I made it safely from not only the rental car place to my hostel, but from the hostel to the market and back. I haven’t even turned into oncoming traffic yet! Full disclosure, I’ve had more than handful of wheel-to-curb-contact incidents but no harm, no foul. Yeah?
It’s 70 and sunny here in Nelson, sorry to all my folks in the-way-up-North, but I hear you’re having a Minnesota-style heat wave of your own. Good for you. Soak up that vitamin D.
Anyways, I’ve got some planning to do. I’m going to spend some time in the Abel Tasman National Park and do some hiking and lounging by the beach. For all y’all that have been to Nelson or in the area, what do I have to see or do during my week here? All I’ve got is time.
Stay tuned for more Jenna-driving-on-the-left-side-of-the-road adventures. There are bound to be some great stories coming out of this endeavor.
Cheers!