Advertisement
I don't know about you but I am the kind of person who always stops to read the bulletin board posts. When at a hostel or a backpacker lodge you can find anything from camping gear, cheap cars, campervans, mobiles, guitars, free drives, tickets and flat shares. I happened to read the random bulletin posts at a hostel in Wellington and found somebody looking for a driver to drive their van to Christchurch from Wellington. All that was required was a valid drivers license and the ability to pay for your own ferry ticket ($46 nz). It occured to me that I did meet these requirements. Plus it would be much cheaper then renting a vehicle myself or taking a bus. I gave myself the evening to think about it and came up with no real reason to stay in Wellington. After a quick phone call and a meeting, I was now driving a van to Christchurch on Saturday morning. I was excited to leave because I had just been getting into a rut in Welly, hanging out playing guitar with Mike, drinking with the gang at the YHA and doing little on the job search front.
Friday I said
my good byes to my friends of the last 16 days. Some I will likely see again at some point. Saturday came with little sleep. David showed up with the van at about 6:30 am and man was it full. It was a Toyota van, you know the funny looking ones I mean, and there wasn't even room for my backpack. David had to hold it while I drove to the terminal. The ferry leaves at about 8:30 am but vehicles must be there for 7:25 am. Boarding the ferry was no bother and in no time I was enjoying breakfast with a nice harbour view. The ferry takes about 3 hours to reach Picton on the South Island. The sky was dark as we pulled away from Wellington. I stayed outside to get some views and also because boats tend to make my insides feel unpleasant. The fresh air was nice but the wind did get quite aggressive. I went in and tried to sleep. Maybe a half hour had passed, I was hot, my insides must have found out that I was on a boat, I felt unpleasant but not sick. I went back out onto the deck,
this time on the other side of the boat. Their was very little wind and the clouds had lightly parted. The sun was poking out as we neared the tip of the South Island. Rainbows appeared and disappeared in front of our eyes. I was kept busy with taking scenic pictures and talking with curious ferry passengers. "Where you from anyway" and questions of that sort.
Arrived in Picton about 11:30, a quick repack then south bound. Christchurch is about 350 km from Picton and on New Zealand roads that can take some time. We drove past vineyards and sheep farms. Followed by more sheep farms, this time hilly sheep farms. Then finally the road and the railroad tracks follow the ocean side. Beside us you have stunning ocean views and beaches. Ahead are snow capped mountains and winding roads around and even through the mountainside. Both David and I agreed that we needed to take our time to stop and enjoy the day as much as possible. David who was an amateur photographer was eager to stop at any given moment. We stopped a few times along the way to admirer the scenery. The cliffs perched above the
Pacific Ocean, the winding roads, the secluded beaches, the snow capped mountain tops and the sunshine were all worthy for their photo sessions. My favorite stop of the day happened when I cornered a cliff and started downhill to see a long rock lined coastline. I spotted a nice viewpoint too late to stop, so I stopped maybe a kilometer down the road. The place was beautiful as it jutted out into the ocean much farther then the first viewpoint. Plus there were huge rocks to climb and get even better views. The sun was out the, ocean breeze was gentle and the views were fantastic. I was excited and started hurrying out towards the ocean to get more pictures. As I was scouting my next spot and hurrying along I heard a loud grunt. I was startled and puzzled. It took a second before I noticed the big beast of a seal, the color of the rocks, in front of me. I retreated a bit, and got some good pictures. I started back the way I came to get grunted at again. Another one, this one much lazier in character. We got about as close as 6 feet from
it before it grunted again. After a relook of the place we must have spotted 20 or more seals scattered about enjoying the sun shine. We snapped all kinds of pics, one seal even seemed to pose for his photo shoot. So back to southbound in the van. Drove for awhile, almost running out of gasoline, but we did find a place in time.
It was about dark when I drove that van into Christchurch. I just jumped out downtown, grabbed my backpack and went in search of accommodation. Took all of 20 minutes to find a decent place. Walked around Christchurch both last night and this morning. Its a nice little city, kind of a boring place to be honest. The nightlife is great though. We did go for a few beers last night. I really enjoyed the couches out in front of pubs where people would watch sport and drink in the alley ways and such. Christchurch is lively on a Saturday night and a lot quieter on a Sunday. I rented a car for the next three days without a plan, except that I drop it off in Queenstown on Wednesday. So a few more days
of being a wheelman.....
Advertisement
Tot: 0.122s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 52; dbt: 0.0653s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb