The two pictures below are of our hostel in Picton for the first two nights, which ended up being our favorite hostel of the trip. For the Wescotts who are reading, it reminded me of a camp in Maine - nice and relaxing with a gorgeous view :)



Here is a shot of Jessie (left) and Natalie (right) in our 6-bed "dorm style" room. Reminded us of camp!



Below is a picture I took from our hike on the Queen Charlotte track. Believe it or not, the water really is that blue. Can you see why I had trouble focusing on the hike?



Here is a picture from an overlook of Picton - quite pretty.



We arrived home last night after a wonderful 8 day trip around the South Island. I was fully expecting it to be beautiful, but it even surpassed my high expectations. We had absolutely amazing weather, which also was an added bonus since nearly all of our activities were outdoors. It ended up being just five of us, which turned out to make planning and things much easier. It was a great group and I felt lucky to go with some of my closest friends in Dunedin - Jeremy, Jessie, Matthias, and Natalie.

I'll try to break down the trip by days to keep everything straight - I am more than happy to relive it all. I am constantly having to remind myself of where I am and what I'm doing. I feel so lucky to be here.

We left last Friday morning and headed up the east coast towards Picton, a town on the northern coast of the South Island. Although it was a long day, the 10-hour drive did not feel nearly as long as it sounds. The combination of constant beautiful scenery and an array of good tunes on the ipod with great people made for an easy ride. We arrived at our homey hostel late Friday night after several stops along the way for pictures.

We woke up the next morning and drove about 30 minutes to Anikiwa to hike the Queen Charlotte track. I have found myself to be quite the lazy hiker here in NZ, as my main motivation for hiking in the states is to see the gorgeous view at the top; here, however, you are surrounded by gorgeous views throughout the entire "tramp", resulting in stopping every few minutes for pictures. Nonetheless, we made it to the top to enjoy a nice lunch and chat with a kiwi family who had BIKED up the mountain. They continue to put me to shame.

I spent Easter a little differently this year. Instead of a morning church service and brunch with family and friends, I spent Easter morning kayaking on a small bay on the Marlborough Sounds. Our hostel provided us with kayaks and we had a peaceful and relaxing few hours on the water. Later that day, we headed to our next destination - Abel Tasman National Park. We stopped in a few towns along the way and got settled into our hostel - "The Barn" - on Sunday night. Although Easter was certainly acknowledged, it is clear that New Zealand is not an overly religious society, which has been a bit of a transition for me. While I had a great day, I found myself missing the tradition and rituals that Easter brings at home.

Here are a few pictures from our first few days of the trip. I will update again soon! XOXO.