Took the ferry from Wellington to Picton (on the South Island) and then drove to Nelson. It was a beautiful ferry ride. It took about 4-hours from loading the car to unloading. The drive to Nelson from Picton was on the most convoluted, windy road we've taken to date. It was gorgeous scenery but a very slow trip.

We had booked reservations at the Paradiso hostel. We found a Thai food trailer in the parking lot of the Paradiso. It comes by every evening to offer $5 Thai meals. That was good news for me! We both had Thai items from their $5 menu.

We met up with a young Canadian friend, Thomas, at the Paradiso. We had first met him in Fiji, later in Auckland and now in Nelson. We invited him to join our road trip for the remaining time in the South Island of New Zealand.

Later in the evening Thomas and John engaged in conversation while I tried out the hot tub and the sauna and met some of the other people staying at the hostel.