Mank hostels ! and nz

Currently in Nelson (NZ) and i arrived about 4pm today to find all the normal places were full …. me n the missus are now staying in @bridge street hostel..formelly bumbles" What a shit hole….ive stayed in some interesting places but this takes the piss …. ive nearly assaulted one of what appears to be the residents ! For being down right rude and abusive to my girlfriend for absolutely no reason….if you flush the toilet the court yard where i was cooking my tea on the msr (as the kitchen was grose)at the time stinks of shit ! And worse still im booked in and paid for another night !!!!!!

Ive slept in cleaner holes in the ground , even bothys in scotland are cleaner …id sooner eat off the floor in a bothy than eat off the plates in that craphole of a hostel !!!

………and breathe …..and avoid this hostel please !

Other than that …..cycle tourings hard work ….im sure ive done my base milage quota ! sitting on 2800k atm since november 17th and will be at nearly 4000k before i come home ! Bikes are taking a beating worn through both tires and snapped my custom selle italia saddle 🙁 gearing is pretty shot (worn chain and cogs) Racks and panniers holding up strong though !

If you make it to whakatane you can have a sleep in the spare room n a shower. 073084208

covering some serious Ks tere terry!! looking forward to more photos on facebook.
i never made i there, but was generally impressed with the NZ hostels. some great campsites too… there was one in timaru (think it was in the south of the town) run by an english guy who’d done some touring in iceland. spent a few nights there, and had a wee mtb ride with him. top bloke. dunno if hed remember me now though. he gave me a cookie on my birthday!!

i’m dying to get back out touring at the mo. exam on monday, so had to give up my strathpuffer place 🙁
skye next weekend though 🙂

tom

cheers for the offer brainflex wont be over that way im afraid but much appreciated

tom as for photos on face book ….facebooks shit all my photos are on my blog at http://www.terry-and-jayne-cycle-nz.blogspot.com ……warning if your doing exams look at it after !!!

Stupid hostel made me ill …. woke up with several insect bites on the back of my hand yesterday morning…..had 2 slices of toast , vomited an have had a really bad vomiting and diarrea since. Waiting for doctors to open tomorrow since its sunday here. Rehydrant salts and plain crackers for me atm … its calming down though, didnt manage any sleep at all last night.

Managed to get into a clean hostel for tonight although im camped in the back garden of it…..still feel happier about that than that shitty hostel

Hard lines on the puffer place . id have loved to have done it again 🙁

On the whole campsites and hostels been great with the exception of this bridge street one and the tuatapere dead mans abandoned motor camp

Hey
Ive been in NZ for about 3 months now and been in loads of backpackers. There is a thing called bbh (get the booklet in a i site) in the booklet it rates all the places. I have found that if a place has over 75% it is usually quite good. Any lower than that and it is normally quite rubbish.
Good Luck!

BBH hostels are quite expensive for me as i dont have a BBH card. Stayed at a few and they have been good though , tend to use YHA as i have a YHA card.

also camp alot , did 19 nights straight camping before christmas just in what ever motorcamp i come to first once ive decided to stop !

Well you have chosen to go to the most popular place at the most popular time !!!
I too once had the misfortune of staying at that hostel.
In Nelson I normally camp further out or there are a few independent places that are nicer – however its peak holiday season so your choices would be limited unless you booked ahead. What about Tahuna Beach ? it massive and schools are back soon so they should have some space there.

haha if id known it would be as busy id have hit up couchsurfers again …

youll know my pain of the hostel then …its utter garbage ! in the accents hostel now its nice …normal people again ….

Im moving on to Havelock tomorrow i have a ferry booked from picton on wednesday ,… if i cant ride to havelock im getting the bus to picton…. have a YHA booked in Wellington for 2 nights then its an 8 day blast up to hamilton/cambridge

It’s a shame you’ve ended up in such a dump. Particularly as Nelson is such a great place. I can recommend a Hike or Kayak/Hike in thee Abel Tasman NP to help you forget all about it.(statistically it’s the sunniest place in the whole of NZ, enjoy)

no worries royston , Been up abel tasman in a kayak already , it was lovely. paddled to anchorage then camped there then paddled up to tonga beach was lovely and sunny !

Meh, he rides a bike, enjoys himself and may even get paid/gifts for doing it. You’re just jealous. Shit or not poser or not why do people even care?

Ride to Havelock for sure, in fact ride across the Magatapu – just get a map in Nelson, its 4wd and takes you through the back and is stunning. Not too rough and only a couple of pushing bits with panniers, have done it 6 or 7 times. Have a swim at Pelorus Bridge then ride through to Havelock its not far. From there cruise the Queen charlotte drive through to Picton on Wed. If yu fancy a beer in Wgtn then let me know – email in profile.

Ahh, Haveock. My home town. Say hello for me.
We had a farm near Pelorus bridge, you’ll cross Bowns Creek about a km down the road.
The Maungatapu is shorter but steeper than tackling the Whangamoa & Rai saddles. The Maungatapu was a bit rough, but I’ve driven it in my Capri.
The Queen Charlotte drive is very scenic, but a narrow winding road with lots of camper vans.

Ahh, Haveock. My home town. Say hello for me.
We had a farm near Pelorus bridge, you’ll cross Bowns Creek about a km down the road.
The Maungatapu is shorter but steeper than tackling the Whangamoa & Rai saddles. The Maungatapu was a bit rough, but I’ve driven it in my Capri.
The Queen Charlotte drive is very scenic, but a narrow winding road with lots of camper vans.