change of plans

you're probably surprised to hear from us just two days after our last post, and that would be understandable, as we told you we'd be hiking the pelorus track for a few days. so here's what happened - we think it's kind of funny :)

not looking forward to 15 miles of walking along a highway to pelorus bridge, we checked online before setting out yesterday morning and discovered that we could get a cheap ride on the nakedbus that left in the early afternoon. saved from a day of monotonous pavement-pounding, we paid our $9 and waited dutifully outside of the mussel pot restaurant at 1 pm to catch the bus. when it arrived, half an hour late, we showed our confirmation to the hurried driver and found a pair of seats in the front row. the ride was only supposed to be a 15 minute one, but we didn't recognize what was supposed to be our stop in tiny pelorus bridge (a cafe and a campground - the bus didn't even pause) and after passing through the town of rai valley, which we knew to be further up the road, we made an abrupt change of plans and rode the full hour into nelson instead. what a wonderful life this is, being able to make up our route on the go.

last night we stayed the paradiso hostel, the kind of place where the patio tables are crowded with empty beer bottles each morning and grungy americans swagger in with loaded backpacks bragging about their recent conquest of the abel tasman coast track. we fled as soon as we could this morning, having found another hostel in town that was looking for two people to work in exchange for accommodation, and are now officially on staff as cleaners at "the bug" for at least the next 3 weeks. we'll share a little barnlike loft space with another guy, whom we haven't yet met, and 6 days a week from 9:30 am-noon get down and dirty with the toilets and kitchens and bed linens. this is one of the highest rated hostels in town and the owner is more than friendly, so we're pleased to be able to stay here while we explore this city of about 50,000. the hostel's about a 15-minute walk out of town, but they have bikes available (and 15 minutes isn't that far anyway). i've got my eye on some museums and secondhand bookstores and coffee shops and gardens already, and i have the feeling that nelson and i will get along quite well. we'll keep you updated!

rachel