On the left is Kevin. He goes to school at Vanderbilt, knows all the best sights to see, and brings good music for the car rides. Ellen is the one in the white jacket. She grew up in Texas but now goes to school in Washington D.C. She is the planner of the group and keeps us all organized! Then there is Christina (a fellow Aggie, whoop!). She loves children, Martha Stewart, and baby seals and is the sweetest person you'll ever meet. And last but not least is Karalyn, who's from California but goes to school in Hawaii. She's tons of fun and up for anything. We may or may not jump off a bridge together in the near future. (Don't worry Mom, it's COMPLETELY safe).
This weekend we took a trip to the Martinborough area, which is a few hours from Wellington. After looking into transportation we discovered that the cheapest and easiest way to get there was by rental car. Being the only ones over 21, it was up to Christina and I to get everyone there and back safely in 'the silver bullet', our affectionately termed station wagon. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be too difficult, except that they drive on the LEFT side of the road over here. It is suprisingly easy to rent a car; the only requirements are that you be 21 or older and hold a valid drivers license. I thought it would be difficult driving on the other side of the road but it actually wasn't bad at all; plus there were tons of helpful signs like "Live | Die" and "Merge - like a zip!" to give us a friendly reminder of the rules of the road.
We headed out Saturday morning to our first stop - Cape Palliser - to see the seals and lighthouse. We stopped on the way to check out the black sand beaches.
Then we hopped back in the silver bullet and headed to Cape Palliser; see the lighthouse in the distance?
We had to climb 250 little wooden steps to get up to the lighthouse, but the view from the top was definitely worth it!
After the lighthouse we walked out to the rock formations by the beach to eat lunch and look at seals. Visiting the cape was one of my favorites parts of the weekend. I never thought I would be eating lunch on the beach in New Zealand, surrounded by seals!
After Cape Palliser we drove a short distance to the Aorangi National Park and did a little hiking by the Putangirua Pinnacles. If I have my facts straight, part of the scene below from Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was filmed in the Pinnacles.
After an action-packed day by the beach we headed to Martinborough where we stayed the night at a backpacker's homestay called Kate's Place. It was a really quaint, three bedroom home complete with a wood fireplace. Kate stays in one room and rents out the others to backpackers. The next morning we got up early and walked around downtown Martinborough as well as visited a local vineyard and winery.
Texas Street!
We headed back to Wellington Sunday afternoon to get ready for another week of school. We're into our third week of classes now and the workload has really begun to pick up. The phrase 'living for the weekend' comes to mind...
