Map of South Island to follow the journey....
Day 1: Christchurch
The beginning of our South Island adventure! Kara, MK, and I all took an 8:30PM flight after class and headed down to meet everyone else who was already in Christchurch. We got there around 10:00, met Shauna at the airport- Todd and Tommy at our hostel and walked to a bar where the other girls were. It was a pretty chill night, just wanted to get out in Christchurch at least once before leaving, ended up going back a little after 12 to get some rest for the next day. We stayed in a hostel the first night since we didn't have our spaceships yet...
Day 2: Christchurch --> Kaikoura
Woke up around 8 and took luxurious showers, not knowing the next time we'd be able to. The hostel provided free homemade bread and coffee/tea which was a nice way to start the morning! Then the hostel shuttled us over to the spaceship place where we picked up our car and met James May for the first time, our home for the next 2 weeks. James May was the newest of the fleet and much nicer than all the other cars so we got lucky! Got introduced to all the gadgets of James, including a TV for DVDs that you are supposed to exchange whenever you see another spaceship on the road/at a campsite. Also had a little fridge for food, a folding table, portable stove, sheets/duvet/pillows, and all kitchen utensils. Pretty sweet deal. We jumped in our cars and headed up to Kaikoura (which means Meal of the Crayfish) with two other vans Tongaroa and Jetson. (Tongaroa = Shauna, Becky, Kelly ; Jetson = Emily, MK, Lori, Christie) Daniela was the first brave soul to venture driving on the opposite side of the car and opposite side of the road. She did great!
Once we reached Kaikoura we walked around a bit exploring the seal colonies and walking on the rocks along the shore. The mountains in the background made this area absolutely gorgeous. We got pretty close to some seals, but signs warned us not to get too close because they can get vicious. We soon found this out as the seals started crawling at us and attempted to chase us. Who would have thought! I still got some good pictures though obviously.
After getting some fish for dinner we went to find our first campsite to stay in for the night. This was probably one of the best campsites of the entire trip: right on the ocean and free! No bathrooms or anything but we embraced it living in the wilderness. Anthony made us all a fire, which we sat around all night while listening to the waves crash right next to us. This was also our first night staying in the vans. We eventually found a great system fitting all our luggage in the front seats and then opening up the whole bed. The first night was chilly but we all snuggled together for warmth.
Day 3: Kaikoura--> Nelson --> Abel Tasman
We woke up at 6:30 AM bright and early for the sunrise on the water. This video will capture it better than I can with words.
Absolutely gorgeous. After the sunrise we went to find public bathrooms and then spent the morning in Kaikoura. I decided to join a small group to rent bikes for a few hours to ride to the seal colony, tons of fun! We rode along the coast so the entire thing was so scenic and beautiful. We climbed up a steep hill pushing our bikes to get a better view of it all, it was definitely worth it (besides losing my sunglasses up there). Made some pb + j and headed out to Nelson, part of Marlborough wine country! Unfortunately, all the wine tastings were closed by the time we got there. So we ended up going food shopping and then stopped at a beach to play frisbee at. I jumped in the ocean, preeeetty chilly. Then we continued along to Abel Tasman where we met up with the Wicked Vans and the other spaceships. Wicked vans = DK, Anthony, Chris, Joey, Pat, Meg, Jerry, Brit. There weren't any free campsites in the area so we had to pay for this one, but it had $1- 6 minute showers which were lovely. We all grilled out and made burgers, hung out with everyone for the night.
Day 4: Hike on Abel Tasman
Easter Sunday! We decided to spend it going on a 6 hour hike with half the group. We hopped on a boat that guided us around the area, which lasted a good half hour, much longer than any of us thought it would. Soooo pretty! Finally, the boat driver brought us to the hiking starting point and would pick us up later at the end. The 20 km walk was entirely along the coast of the ocean, and was probably the most fun hike I've been on. The company didn't hurt either, and the whole time we all just chatted and played games and were all in the best moods. The steep hills didn't even phase us because it was all just such a great time. During the hike we ran into a random swing bridge which was a little scary to cross- but we all made it! 
Then we took the low-tide route during high-tide by accident which made for quite the adventure... The entire trail we were supposed to be on was covered in water so we decided to try and hop from rock to rock in hopes of making it to the sand bar in the middle and then walking the rest of the way through the water. Everything was working out great until we found out the water we had to cross was almost waiste deep! haha so we all took our sneakers off, rolled up our shorts, and roughed through the water. My shorts got completely soaked but it was so much fun I didn't even care. We stopped for a celebratory lunch break, then finished off the hike where we waited for the boat to come get us and bring us back to the campsite. We snuck in some quick showers since we were now freezing, and hopped in the vans to find a campsite along the way to the Franz Joseph Glacier. This was my first time driving! Of course, it was dark out and pouring rain, but I got the hang of it and it wasn't too bad! The roads were very windy but you just have to drive slow and you're fine. The wicked vans found a free campsite that was literally right on the side of the main road, little sketchy but totally fine. It was raining too hard so Kara, Daniela and I scrounged for food in the van for dinner, consisting of pb j crackers, peppers, and bananas, haha quite the combo but you gotta do what you gotta do. We snuggled up and watched a movie and then passed out.
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