20th September 2012
Zzzzzz…..
So I left you with a cliffhanger whether I would wake up for the ferry from Welly (hey I’m a poet, and I didn’t know it). After a full day of activities of walks, white water rafting and extreme partying, it’s probably no surprise that I slept through my alarm and a possibility that I would miss my bus.
As I continued drooling in my sleep, I must have been dreaming about Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city, so what else is there to do here?
Art Galleries
Live Theatre
Parliament Buildings in which you could take a tour
Cable Car up to the Botanic Gardens
Climb Mount Victoria
Go on plenty Lord of the Rings Tours.
And many more.
So I must have got excited as I grunted in my sleep but probably knew that I had to leave the next day to catch the ferry.
Yes. The ferry. To get between the North and South Island, you must book your ferry ticket at the hostel the night before you are due to leave to ensure you have a place to get across. Yes, I did that the night before, so I’ll be crossing the Cook Strait…wait…as I groggily opened my eyes to see morning light streaming through. Why is it so light before my alarm is due to go off? I rolled over and checked my phone. The bus leaves at 7.15am and the clock showed 7.05am, 50 minutes after my alarm went off.
I stared at it blankly, shrugged and alarm bells rang in my head. I jumped off my bed from the top bunk on the floor and quickly shook Henning awake who’s leaving with me on the ferry as well. He stared at me evilly for waking him up and I shouted at him it’s 5 past 7! ‘you’re kidding!‘ he exclaimed. Pulling on my clothes and grabbing my bags (thank god I packed before I went out), and closing the door before we rushed back in to rip off our pillowcases to get our deposit back, we ran down bedraggled and steaming from the night before to reception. Of course, the receptionist had to take time to check my name off.
‘give me the deposit! Give me the deposit!‘ I cried! It was already 7.13am. Hurling down the street like a crying penguin looking for its mother in the crowd, we spotted the trademark kiwi bus and saw the driver slamming the luggage holds shut.
‘Wait’ we cried out. Panting, we waved our bag laden arms about and the driver noticed us just as he was stepping in the vehicle. Shaking his head with a wry grin, he beckoned us inside after depositing our bags. Everyone was waiting for us. Oops. And we had to do the ‘walk of shame’ to get to our seats in which we plonked down in and covered or eyes with sunglasses and pulled our hats down tightly. We made it.
So we got to the ferry. I climbed up onto the sun deck to get some fresh air and ‘air out‘ myself seeing as I never got washed and showered this morning. But the shame suddenly dissipated when I was met with the views of Cook Strait and Charlotte Sound. Check out the awesome pics.
This 3 hour ferry crossing ended at Picton, the gateway to the South Island. Collecting our luggage, we climbed back onto the bus to head out west through the scenic Marlborough Valley. There’s plenty of vineyards here much to a few wine glugging wannabes’ delight. But I guess they didn’t know that this is the place for its delicious Sauvignon Blanc variety of wines. I wished I could say I stopped to try some but I was still feeling iffy from the night before…
Passing through very scenic towns of Nelson, we arrive at Kaiteriteri at the doorstop of what I think is the best national park I’ve seen, Abel Tasman National Park. Surrounded by golden sands and blue water, it’s quite easy to believe that it boasts the best all round weather of New Zealand. Some people went off to Skydive over the Abel Tasman but I decided to go with some people to check out the beaches. It’s truly gorgeous. Check out the pics.
Staying at the beautiful Kaiteri Lodge, only minutes from the beach, I truly relaxed with an early night and ready for my next activity that I booked onto for tomorrow. Abel Tasman. Here I come!
Xx
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