Motueka, here I come.

Well hitting the road again, first stop Wairoa. Stopped and stayed another 2 nights with Annie and Bruce. Got there to find out they were entered in a fishing competition. Just surf casting off the beach, biggest snapper $1000. Yep I was in. So down to the beach real early, fishing could start at 8am. There must have been well over 100 people along the beach and to my amazement not one person caught a bloody snapper. How bad is that!!! It was great spending some time with them again. But i had to keep moving. So onto Napier to stay with Matt(Pete's Brother). We went out to dinner along the main road by the water front. What a beautiful little city. Took a quick stroll after tea then went to meet Matt's girlfriend, shes very nice. And Matt seems quite taken with her. It was a short stay in Napier cause the road was calling. Onto the big city lights of EKETAHUNA. What a little place!!! Got there quite early that morning, Jesse was hanging out her washing. They have a great house, and they seem so happy there. We did a couple of chores for her mum, then went to her mums place so Jesse could have a swim in the river. Sorry but know way i was going in, not a chance in hell. Spent the night playing cards, listening to music and talking. It was so good to sit and relax. She was so excited about her upcoming wedding. Hope it went off well. Well onto Wellington to see John and catch the ferry that night. Got there in one piece, so rang John and met him for lunch. Took a walk along the waterfront then i came home and rang and changed my booking on the ferry. I stayed with John for a week, Wellington was great. I went to Te Papa. They had a space exhibition there, it was interactive, you could launch your own rocket and land a space shuttle(i managed to crash it most of the time). You could also try and fix a space station by flying the shuttle to it (I also crashed that one, then i ran out of oxygen). Ha ha. Had heaps of fun there. Caught up with John, it was great, i havent seen him for 15 years and it was a bonding experience i needed with that side of the family. We talked heaps. My last day in Wellington, what to do??? Was walking back to John's and stopped in at an Irish pub. I was the only one there so had a beer with the barman. He was telling me all about Ireland, it was great. Then an older guy came in (maybe 63). I asked if i could join him for a drink. Of course he said. Well, what can i say, it was one of the best afternoons that i have had. He had travelled all around the world, hitch hiking place to place, he told me all about it and i told him what i was doing. We must have talked for bout 3 hours. He was amazing, funny thing is he thought i was the amazing one. He wished me luck on my travells and said good bye, probably never to see him again unfortunately. But the ferry awaits, John got up at 12.30 am with me and we said goodbye, then i headed for the ferry. The weather was good so it was a smooth crossing. I slept most of the 3 hours on the way over, and decided at 4.30am in the morning not to stop and wait for day light. Just jumped on the bike and headed to Nelson. I think I made it to Murray and Jackies about 7.00. They were still in bed. They have a beautiful place there and made me feel so welcome. Well what is there to do in Nelson?? BREWERY TOURS!!!!! Yep so thats what i did. Mac's Brewery was the one i chose. It was really good, met some people from England that had moved to N.Z bout 6 months ago. And the tour guide made me a little mini motorbike out of the beer bottle tops. Got quite tiddly at that one. Then rang and booked myself on a winery and brewery tasting tour. And guess what? The first stop Mac's Brewery. They threatened to put my name on the bar stool if i was going to make this a daily experience. We went to 2 Brewerys and 4 Wineries and i got pissed. Got back to Murrays and flaked. But I did find my one true love on that tour. FEIJOA WINE. Yum Yum Yum. Murray and Jackie took me for a drive around and showed me Motueka and the surrounding districts. So i could get my bearings. So Nelson had it all good beer and a true love. What will Motueka hold???