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Published: June 23rd 2011
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Picton to Wellington
Well, the day started with free brekky at The Tasman Bay Backpackers in Nelson and a taxi ride to the catch my bus to Picton @ 9.30am. Quite a decent time of day. There were only a few of us on the bus (this seems to be normal) so it was a quiet trip. Only 0215hrs through, once again, amazing countryside with mountains on either side of the road most of the time. The scary thing is that some of the road was right alongside a drop and there were NO BARRIERS! And these little buses boot it! Seriously, 100kms on these windy roads also seems to be the norm - hair-raising to say the least! But such beautiful scenery nearly took my mind off the fact that one wrong move and we'd end up at the bottom of a cliff! The soundtrack for today's bus trip was Parachute Band which also calmed the nerves. Some good NZ talent.
We arrived in Picton at 11.45 as scheduled to rain, rain & more rain. The bus drop off was actually at the Interislander Terminal so I didn't have to catch a bus/shuttle/taxi etc. to get to the
ferry thank goodness. After checking in my luggage I sat down for a two hour wait until the ferry departed. Haha. That's the thing with traveling...you have to be patient, whether it be at airports or ferry terminals, you are always guaranteed a wait 😊
The Interislander Ferry is HUGE to say the least. It fits 600 vehicles and 1680 people, has several levels which house an atrium, a bar and 2 movie theatres among other things like recliner lounge areas and 2 restaurants. Massive. So, after exploring the ferry I found a good possie in a recliner up the front directly underneath the bridge. The weather was so bad that there was limited visibility so no pics of Marlborough Sound or Cook Straight I'm afraid 😞 Am hoping to get some on Monday on the way back across when I head back to Christchurch.
I had heard stories previously about the trip across the strait, and have also been told that Cook Strait is one of the top 5 roughest crossings in the world! So, I boarded the ferry wondering how it would pan out. I found it was fine - fun even 😊 As the weather
was pretty dismal, it was a bit rough but I actually quite enjoyed the rocking sensation. It is difficult to gauge how rough it was compared to other people's experiences, so all I can say is that when it was rocking at it's most, the horizon disappeared from the front window both at the top and at the bottom :$ Fun, fun, fun😊 It was actually quite an uneventful crossing. I think at some stage I even fell asleep - it's been a while since I've been rocked to sleep! Haha. I listened to Colbie Calais, Josh Radin & ELO on my iPad- this blocked out the noisy Muslim girls x 2 who were flirting/giggling/laughing with their fellow Muslim male passenger - seriously obvious girls...and annoying!
All in all it was a pleasant trip. I was so disappointed not be get any pics but that's life eh? We arrived in Wellington at 5pm-ish to rain and was very happy to get checked into my hotel in the city and head out for some tucker, and to find some internet!
So, I am sitting in a fantastic little place called Arizona, eating a Lamb & Cranberry pizza while listening
to a live singer doing Little River Band covers as i write this blog on my iPad. Can't get much better than that! I'm just hoping they let me take my leftovers with me cos it's divine, but i can't eat it all. Life is sweet. I'll head off shortly to find some Internet and hopefully post this blog 😊
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