NZ Day 3

Hostel pillows suck. I hadn't stayed in a hostel since 2009 until this trip, and had forgotten this little fact. Luckily, Bed Bath & Beyond exists in NZ so I bought myself a genuine lambs wool pillow for 20 bucks. It even smells like lamb. Really. And I love it.

Our hostel in Nelson was serviceable, but the room quite cramped. After going to bed with a headache and walking up with one (I can't quit these damn things!), the cool air from our 45-minute drive to Abel Tasman national park cured me for the day.

Here's what we did:
- booked a full day kayak and hike with the Sea Kayak Company. Our group was 6 people. We kayaked to a nature sanctuary island where about 400 fur seals live. Learned a bit about the seals, but it definitely wasn't a nature tour. The seals were really cool. A few swam under our kayaks and generally checked us out, but they weren't too concerned with our presence. After a quick lunch on the beach, Shweth and I walked about 3 hours to where our boat would take us back to the starting point. On the beach we ran into a current Fuqua student who is traveling with 3 other Fuqua folks. (Also, the next day we met another current Fuqua student at the pancake rocks at Punakiki... Shweth had been wearing Duke shirts every day, so people notice him). Tonight we're staying in queenstown and will meet up with the Fuqua people and drink at a place called Ice Bar. Anyway, on the way back from Abel Tasman we talked to two Vietnamese who worked 6 days picking apples, which funded a 7th day of vacation.
- I liked Nelson a lot. It reminded me of Mendoza, Argentina (although a bit smaller) and Nevada City, California (although probably 3 times Nevada City's size). Very chill town.
- after we got back from Abel Tasman, Shweth went to see a Cinderella pantomime show at a local theater while I went to a Sunday evening Anglican church service. I figured it would be interesting in some regard. Some of my most memorable travel moments have been going to church services (including a few in Mexico), so... Why not. It was a very strange service. At one point the priest asked people to come to the front and speak about whatever they wanted. Two women came up and said they had had visions/that God spoke to them that day. Lots of hands raised in the air. I left 25 minutes into a very rambling sermon. Sorry mom - I couldn't take it and I needed to go eat!

That's all the update I can muster for now. Just got to our hostel in Queenstown and it's bro central. Need to shower and go out.

Here's some photos:

Quaint downtown Nelson