Water, Water, Everywhere, But Do I Really Want a Drink?

4/20/11     Nelson -> Westport

Quite a bit of today was spent on the road, and quite a bit of my time was spent sleeping.  Over the past few years I have adapted to bus riding so much that it’s just natural to sleep.  It’s great for drum corps summers, but not so good when the scenery is absolutely gorgeous.  Oh well.  At least the time passed quickly.

Our first stop was the Nelson Lakes.  There we went on a brief walk through the brush.  We walked along the beach on the way back, even forging a stream.  After drying my feet it was time to eat lunch, feed ducks, and watch people jump into the lake, the crazies.

From there we did a great deal more driving, stopping in Murchison for some ice cream.  I signed up to do some jet boating on the way to the hostel.  This place also offered quad rides and horseback rides.  Out of the group of seven, only Tifah and I did anything.  We were dropped off with the others and the bus kept on going to the hostel.

We quickly paid our way, suited up, hopped on the transport bus and climbed into the jet boat.  Our driver gave us a brief rundown of what was to come and we were off!  We headed up river at a nice leisurely pace conducive to taking pictures, which I did.  He soon began throwing in the occasional test move: cliff dodging, sharp turns, 360 degree turns and the like.

After cruising upriver for a good 20-30 minutes we were told to put our cameras away.  Now the fun began.  We jetted back down the river with constant tricks happening.  I was quickly soaked through to the skin under my jacket.  So much for staying dry.

We returned to base to be greeted by a roaring fire and hot chocolate.  There we awaited the return of the quad/horse riders.  Once everyone returned and had their share of hot cocoa we loaded back onto the bus and were driven into town.

Our hostel for the night was Bazil’s/YHA in Westport.  For the first time on our trip we got to use the tent!  It was set up smack dab in the middle of the courtyard/ backyard area.  We crammed four people (Kristen, Tony, Kaleb, and myself) into the tent we were told would fit two maybe three people.  By doing this we saved $13 a piece per room, and had about 10x more fun.  Totally worth the cold.