Hello North Island!

Well, we are back in the North, it's been great so far. We had a wonderful last few days on the South Island. After leaving the Hoogvliet's we headed to Picton and the Queen Charlotte Track from some hiking and sea kayaking! It was amazing! We've been waiting to go for months, so it was great to finally get to do it. After a seriously long briefing, we headed out in our double kayak (pictures to come soon!). We paddled along the shores, saw more seals, avoided large ferry wakes, and just had a terrific day.

Yesterday, we jumped on the early morning ferry from Picton to Wellington (and no, it wasn't in The County - those are really the names of the two towns here!). The ferry ride was beautiful, as it wound through the islands and bays of Marlborough Sounds for over 3 hours. We arrived in Wellington, slightly tired, but ready for an exciting day. For those of you not up on the New Zealand political scene, Wellington is the capital city (though Auckland is a much larger city popluation wise). So, of course, we headed to the Parliament buildings! After a interesting tour, we headed into the House to watch the first sitting of the year for this government. And, we saw Prime Minister Helen Clark (or Uncle Helen, as Kiwis affectionately know her)! I'm not sure if I've ever seen a Canadian PM, but now we can say we've seen one here.

At night, we decided to head out for a walk from our hostel. We were in a slightly obscure part of town, but we ended up at the Empire Theatre - which happened to be the location for the World Premiere of Lord of the Rings. So, of course, we had to catch a flick at such a famous place! It was a really amazing theatre, very classy inside, with lots of pictures from the Premiere. A great suprise find!

Anyways, the North Island has been great so far, though we do miss everyone from the South. Tomorrow we head to Lake Taupo Camp for the next part of our adventure. We'll let you know how things go. Keep in touch!