Atlantis in Picton

We landed in Picton and our plans were to find a shuttle to Havelock (45 minutes away). There were no shuttles leaving when we arrive around 9:30 so we jump in the van with Tony who works at Atlantis Backpackers down the road. He is very nice (maybe just assume this about everyone I talk about) and says we can come back to the hostel and figure out taxi prices or stay the night and get a ride in the morning. Since the taxi would be extremely expensive we decide to stay the night for $20 and try to hitch a ride to Havelock in the morning because there are no buses until 9:40 and we were suppose to be there around 9:15 to catch the mail boat to Pelorous Sound where our next WWOOFing job was. Let me just say, this week turned out to be completely different than what I had imagined. It was a significant night for the workers because about five German guys were leaving who had worked for a few months. In that time two found girlfriends who also worked at the hostel. They invited me to go to the Irish Pub with them. I may have (or should have) said no because I was suppose to wake up at 6am the next morning, but since I was still jacked up on coffee from the ferry I decided to burn off some energy. As soon as a I got in the bar I started talking to Richard, this guy from Picton who had traveled around the world. He had bought a round the world ticket for 6 months and ended up traveling for 7 years! He worked in England at a nightclub for a while and did some other odd jobs. He started talking about politics in America while I tried my hardest to keep my eyes from glazing over. I avoid politics like the plague, partly because it can become controversial, but mostly because I have no idea what is going on and I am sorry to represent America in this way because it does propogate a stereotype. On the other hand he said that it was unusual for an American to do what I am doing because usually they only travel for a short time and want to go home or are extremely regimented and stick to their plans as opposed to travelers from other countries who are comfortable following wherever the road takes them. If I was staying for a few days, he said I could go sailing at the yacht club. They take out guests regardless of experience. Ever since I came to New Zealand I’ve been wanting to go sailing. Is it not the sailing capital of the world? I didn’t have to spend a single cent the entire night because everyone else wanted to buy my drinks. Cheers mateJ

Tony dropped us off in the morning around 7:15 at a place where we could potentially catch a ride. After about an hour and a half of waiting we think that we would miss the mail-boat anyways so find our way back to the hostel where Tony and Shira (the owner who is upbeat and crazy and just wonderful, white/blonde stray curls and piercing blue eyes who calls everyone “gorgeous” or “gorgemoundo”) welcome us, asking if we want to keep the same beds in the staff room. We were in the staff room because Christian, the Danish guy who worked at the front desk brought me to a bed that he thought was empty. A girl was changing there and I thought she would hop onto the top bunk, but apparently both were taken. So I ended up staying in the staff room (Chloe got to stay there too) and we spent the next 4 nights in these same beds as well. I guess I proved Richard wrong in that I didn’t stick to my plans. I got to experience a whole different way of traveling, backpacker style.