WELLINGTON, NZ
It’s been a while, I know, but we’ve been on the move and not on the move, and when not on the move, we’ve been enjoying ourselves in the various destinations. And then there have been times when the wifi was not so good or most recently, when power was limited and devices where running down faster than we could charge them up.
We left Aukland, by train, on Feb 8, and spent the day seeing the mountain scenery of the North Island, arriving in Wellington, at the south end of the north island around 7pm. It was a great ride – even included a great mountain ascent/descent on a “spiral” built into the mountainside. Think of switchbacks for trains but not so sharp….
In Wellington, We had a great little aparthotel in the downtown area, a short walk from the waterfront with lots of great things to see. After being in Wellington less than 24 hours, but after booking the ferry trip out, we realized our mistake that we didn’t spend more time in Wellington and less in Auckland. It’s a beautiful, very small/contained city, but yet a city, with a petite skyline, mountains around, a large and very scenic harbor, a gondola for great views over everthing, and even a friendly yacht club!!! But we had only scheduled for one full day, which, if we’d know better, would have been at least 2 days.
Our first, and only, day was one of exploring on foot. That is after figuring out where the Vietnamese embassy was (happened to be literally next door!), completing visa application forms, and, once learning the fees involved, finding an ATM. Then back to pick up the visa, and on start a trek for the day. We went to the cable car office in the middle of town, down the street from where we were, and bought round trip tickets to go to the top and see the views, see the gardens, and rose gardens there. The views were terrific and the winding walk downward was full of little surprising displays of plants and trees, along with occasional impressive views. The best part was at the end where there was an extensive and awe inspiring rose garden! The photos don’t capture half of it. It was then we realized that in order to take the cable car back down to the center of the city, we had to walk 15 min up a steep hill. The sign just outside the rose garden suggested the walk from that location to the center of the city was about 20 min. The walking downward won out!!! We also got a chance to walk by the very uniquely designed parliament building. We then wandered along the waterfront, found lunch, went to the museum and wandered further along the waterfront.
We stumbled upon the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club. We wandered in to inspect the premises and stopped to admire the trophies there. A friendly voice asked, “can I help you?”. One of the members wondered what we were doing and when we explained we were members of the St Lucia YC (tho expired this year!), she said we were welcome to sit and enjoy a drink if we liked, and she would provide her membership details to do that. How friendly!!! We sat with her and her partner and had some G&Ts, or wine, on our charge, and stayed for more than an hour, buying our hosts a round in the process. There was a Friday night special race series, an annual event, called the Ambassador’s Race. All the ambassadors stationed in Wellington were invited on members boats for an evening race. It was sunny and clear but not much wind. There were probably about a dozen boats and it was fun watching them across the harbor.
he morning of the 10th was an early start to catch the ferry from Wellington to Picton on the South Island. This was a very large ferry, not like one I’ve seen before. There were 2 vehicle decks and 6 other decks, with the top deck having a small out in the open viewing area. There was a place for children to play, a small movie theater, several cafes and multiple types of seating areas. There were even cabins with bunks if you wanted to privacy and possibly a nap!!! The crossing lasted about 3.5 hours, and was pleasantly calm, with little sea. Apparantly some of the crossing are quite rough, but we lucked out.
The scenery approaching Picton, through the Queen Charlotte Sound, reminded us of Maine or similar areas with piney woods, no signs of life, and steep slopes to the water. Picton is a small town and we rented a car and headed the 2+ hours to Nelson, a more substantial town, for 2 nights. We were able to get our bearings, do some laundry, slow things down a bit as it rained on our first full day. We did a walkabout through the small town and I was finally able to find what I’d been looking for for over a month – a lightweight, very collapsible/foldable waterproof backpack. The one I had was somewhat small, bulky when packed up, and not waterproof, so I’d been perpetually worried about having electronics – camera and phones, and not having the gear to keep them dry. I found an osprey lightweight, collapses to a ball the size of an apple, and a old fashioned dry bag. I have dry bags, I think!, back home unless I gave them away, but none were as light as what I got this time. When there’s risk of rain, everything goes in the dry bag and then in the pack, otherwise everything in the pack. And then when not needed, it all scrunches up to not much. Very pleased with my find!!!