Sunshine and heat

I choose to live in a place that isn't exactly sunny. Even the loosest definition of a sunny climate would not cover Portland, OR. But it's a choice that I enjoy most of the time. By March, however, every cell in my being is craving sunshine and heat and its not to be had for a bit longer (if at all-see last summer's temps for example). We've actually had sun this Feb./March but not with any heat. At last I have sun and heat. And it's delightful.

Rich and I are on a budget this trip, since the South Island of New Zealand does not tend to cater to business travelers, we can't use hotel points like we normally would. As a result, we are staying at a backpacker's hostel. Backpacker's are interesting in New Zealand. They range from very nice to grungy and cater to students. I've stayed at both in the past. The one we are staying at in Nelson is pretty middle of the road. I warned Rich before I booked it that it would be noisy, but we decided to go ahead and be brave. It's very noisy. As in NOISY! There are two six-bed dorm rooms behind our cottage (double bed, with two twins overhead and bathroom) and at least one has six girls staying in it. I know a lot about their sex lives and I've never seen them. One really likes Norwegian men. As well, we had a school group staying in the other part of the hostel last night. 10 year-olds gone wild. We toured around after dark and found the Magic Bus. There was magic happening there of the kind that is illegal in the States. After looking at the Southern sky we decided to hit the sack. I took Xanax, put in the earplugs, put on the eyemask and went to sleep. Poor Rich kept getting awakened by school children, the women cooking the students' brekkie, and drunk girls coming and going. Two more nights and then off to another in Dunedin. May it be somewhat quieter.

We had breakfast at a fab cafe this morning. Nothing like a flat white (better than a latte, less milk, but more milk han a cappuccino) and food. I had berry pancakes with a banana and whipped cream on top. Yumm. And we talked to two lovely ladies from the UK. Breakfast was so filling, that we still haven't eaten except for some gelato. We then went to the local arts and crafts market and found some great things to splurge on.

We've been wandering around Nelson on bikes today. I've been close to losing my life 4 times. Everything is on the other side of the road and its confusing. I'll plow on and live. Once we are done at the cafe, we are off to a pub crawl. Drinking and biking should be even safer for me.

Okay enough blathering for now. Thanks for the comments!