Cook Strait Ferry and Nelson, NZ

For photos of the ferry crossing and Nelson click here.

Lancelot gave us "cheeky" driving instructions on our way to pick up the RV in Wellington. This delightful shuttle driver taught us polite and impolite hand signals that would be universally understood as well as speed limits and how to spot police officers. When driving in NZ, remember U-turns and turning at a red light are illegal and one must give way when entering a round about.

Meet Betty,(photo above) she's 24- feet long, dependable and has good brakes. So what if she's missing a few hubcaps, her suspension is shot and she's got 200,000 km on her. This band of gypsies will call her home for a few weeks. To help the driver, everyone calls out, "stay left," at random intervals just to keep the driver on his/her toes! Traveler's note: Rent RV's six months in advance from Maui, Kea, Apollo or Britz.

Crossing the Cook Strait from Wellington into the Marlborough Sounds of the South Island brought us in contact with new birds and Antarctic breezes. Skylar spent considerable time on deck dancing with the wind. Maya met a kiwi ten year old and learned that girls here are also interested in shopping and snowboarding. We marveled at the multilevel sheep transporter and its 240 occupants. Disembarking at Picton, we drove two hours to Nelson and stopped for the night.

Nelson College, has 1,000 male students including 300 boarders; Michelle had an appointment here to visit classrooms and talk to teachers. Students in US grades 8-12 (or NZ years 9-13)wear uniforms and study college preparatory curriculum. Prejudice between maori and white citizens was the focus of a social studies lesson in which the teacher hopes to debunk some myths on both sides of the cultural divide. Students were excited to be dressing "muffdie" and raising money for charity on Thursday, (translation, in street clothes). Class size, encouraging critical thinking and national assessments are all pressing issues to the faculty. How exciting to learn that New Zealand refuses to use multiple choice tests for their accountability measures. Directly next to our holiday park, we dropped in on a primary school where Reading Recovery originated. What a great way to gain a more local perspective.