The All Blacks Experience

We started Thursday off right, beginning with an introduction to the baby rabbits and guinea pigs living at our campsite. Since the weather was finally behaving itself we managed to do a 4-hour hike on the Queen Charlotte Track. It was beautiful, of course; this is New Zealand we're talking about, after all.

After the hike we started on our way to Rai Valley, a tiny town where our next campsite was located. On the way we stopped in Havelock for lunch. I decided to be adventurous and order some fancily prepared mussels, which is what Havelock is famous for. They were caught in the local waters and tasted surprisingly delicious.

Yes, I did sing songs from The Sound of Music at this point.

The weather went back to its windy, rainy state when we arrived at the campsite, and we ended up hibernating in the van instead of cooking with our cool camping stove and trying out my brand new whistling kettle. Our new campsite was a designated freedom camper place, meaning there is only a drop toilet and a bit of gravel road surrounded by grassy areas. It was located right next to a river, making for a lovely view (and a comeback of my sworn enemy, the sandfly).

Food, a book, and nature. What could be better?

The next day (Halloween!) we drove to Nelson, where we were greeted with sunshine and warmth. We tried out our soccer ball and frisbee at a park before heading into the city center. The town itself is charming and active, so we had a nice time checking out all the different areas, including the cathedral, where there was some sort of family day going on that included tons of kids in adorable Halloween costumes.

Really, Willie? Carving into a Nelson bench? Shame on you.

We had an early night (spent in the free parking lot in the middle of Nelson, which was a far from restful location) because the next day would be the BIG GAME! It was the Rugby World Cup final, and two teams playing were Australia and New Zealand. Talk about an exciting matchup! Because the Cup took place in England, all the match times were awkward for anyone located in Australasia -- but that didn't stop the Kiwis from waking up for a 5am start time to watch their boys live!

So Dejan and I joined the locals in a nearby bar this morning, both of us donning completely black attire (not hard when 75% of our wardrobes are black in color) in honor of the occasion. We arrived a few minutes after 5:00 and it was jam packed. We barely made it through the doors, and we basically just stood against the doors for the entire game. The atmosphere was electric, so when the All Blacks defeated the Wallabies, the cheers were deafening. Who knew I could feel so awake at 5 o' clock in the morning without any coffee?!

My attempt at a 4:45 am selfie.

So yeah, the All Blacks won and everybody seems to be tired but happy. Today we're seeing tons of All Blacks uniforms on people all around town. We certainly do have good timing -- being in a country when their national team wins the biggest tournament for the most popular sport in the country... Not bad, I have to say.

New Zealand has caused me to love watching rugby -- although I would never play it in a million years.


Nope.

We spent the morning in town (after a long nap) and found our way to the jeweler who made the One Ring. 

We can only assume he's an elf.

Beyond that, not much to report yet -- soon we'll go for our final freedom camping adventure before our wwoofing plans begin. This time our destination is Ruby Bay. Stay tuned!