We’re on a boat…
Today’s the day we cross over to the South Island. Despite the cheaper rates on car rentals (free relocation for the companies), every travel site recommended going North to South, saving the “best” for last. Being the larger island, plus the extensive list of sites to see and activities to do in the South Island, we’re making the switch pretty early in the trip. The journey across the Cook Strait is a scenic one, and we’re very much looking forward to this day of mainly travel.
The crossing is 92km and takes about 4 hours. Pretty cool to pull your car on board and sit down and relax while they take care of the crossing for us.
We got an early start out of Tongariro (thanks to our early night from being exhausted on the mountain) to make the drive down to Wellington to catch the Interislander Ferry to Picton. We got there a little early, so we decided to park and walk around Wellington, the capitol of NZ. Between having a heck of a time making right hand turns out of streets that we made wrong turns on to and ending up in a parking garage that had NO spots and wanted $6 an hour for parking, we finally ditched the car and made our way to Wellington’s #1 (supposedly)b tourist attraction, the famed cable car. Well let’s just say – after seeing San Francisco, we were not impressed. It made two stops over the course of a 3 minute climb up a hill overlooking the cloudy waterfront. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice and all, but #1 tourist attraction in Wellington – Lonely Planet, you left me disappointed. Anyways, we grabbed a nice lunch on the main shopping strip (fishcake that was a lovely combo of seafood and potato for Audrey and a nice toasted sandwich for JD. This was after we decided that the $12 “Lamb-burger” (I’m not kidding) from McDonald’s was a bit ridiculous, as well as the $10 footlong at Subways. I still can’t get over the price of food in this country! I guess we should have gone to Te Papa (the national museum of culture in NZ) or on a Lord of the Rings Tour (except they are $, and there are so many LOTR-esque things that you can see on your own in this country).
After our disappointing Wellington excursion, we made our way over to the Interislander Ferry terminal, which was an interesting experience. We pulled up, the attendant printed our boarding passes and she told us to pull our car into the queu in lane #4. And then we just sat there and waited for about an hour with no further instruction. The kiwis are very easy-going people, so we didn’t think much of it – also, everyone else appeared to be in the same boat (pun intended) as well. We got to watch the big-ass ship pull into the harbor and all the cars unload from the previous voyage. Then came the exciting part for us – pulling our car on to the ferry. It’s amazing just how many full-size tractor trailers, railway cars, campervans, cars, motorcycles, bikes, etc. they can fit on a BOAT. Very cool. Once parked onboard, you simply get out, lock up and head up to a seat. The sailing was fine going, although it was a bit too cold and windy for my liking to stand on the deck. We did brave the cold when we neared the South Island, as the scenery was beautiful.
Upon arrival in Picton, we drove off the boat and headed south on Hwy 1 to Kaikoura. The fact that their great coastal highway is also named Hwy #1 is pretty cool. Unfortunately, clouds and rain obscured the fantastic view and we would have to hope it’d clear on the ride back tomorrow to get the fantastic views I had read about. Poor JD was tuckered out after 6+ hours of driving and 4 hours on the boat, but thankfully we made it to our lodging alright – the Dolphin Backpacker Hostel. What a neat little place. We had our own room with ensuite, and have encountered so many Germans (they really know how to travel!) and other nationalities in the kitchen/living area – this has been true across the country – it really makes me realize how very little vacation we as Americans receive compared to the rest of the world.
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