North Island Again

Greetings from Wellington! We took the ferry from Picton yesterday and stayed in Wellington last night. It was a very eventful boat ride. Kevin, Greg and David are all going to hate me because I have been gloating so much but during our hearts game I shot the moon twice in a row (three times total that game) to win. It might be the highlight of the trip, a feat that cannot be surpassed. Anyway, this is a pic of me outside New Zealand's parliament building. Kevin and I went there today and got to observe them in session. It was really neat, they were arguing and everything. So everyone kind of split up and did their own thing today, Kevin and I saw parliament and a lot of Wellington, including botanical gardens and their cable car. We are going to stay in Wellington tonight and continue our way to Auckland tomorrow. I am kind of out of it right now, so excuse the way I am jumping around in time. Back to where I left off on the last post. We took the tour of Montieths brewery. It was a lot of fun. We learned some of their brewing process, tried all the beers, and even got to pour our own! Obviously that was our favorite part. We left the brewery and Greymouth and drove north to Abel Tasman, don't worry David was great and abstained from drinking to drive us. Abel Tasman was great, a very beautiful coastal national park. We spent two nights there. The first night it rained, and while Nick and I stayed dry the other guys got a little wet. So the next day they took off to find a dry place to sleep (it was still raining) and Nick and I stayed and read on the comfort of a porch. It stopped raining around 1 or so, and it was nice enough for nick and I to hit the beach! The tides were kind of crazy, they dropped like 6 meters or something. So we went out there when the tide was going out and waded out to an island, and by the end of the day we were on a huge beach. It was a beautiful day and the water felt great. The next day we met back up with the guys. David went on a day hike, and the rest of us rented sea kayaks and paddled around the park. We saw a family of seals, and then relaxed on a remote beach for a couple of hours. It was another amazing day. I put some pictures up as I am running out of time I can't make them look pretty. Notice the village we built dangerously close to the dam that Kevin and Greg built. I made the rugby pitch and church, nick made the golf course and house. Unfortunately Gregzilla destroyed the dam and the village was destroyed! It was a tragedy. After the day of kayaking we drove to a down closer to Picton, and the next day took the ferry, completing my disjointed narrative. Hope all is well with everyone! Thanks to everyone who reads and comments. I miss you all! Cheers! --Mark