Goodbye to the South Island!

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Bit of a long entry today, sorry!

We said bye to Nelson early Tuesday morning and headed for Picton where we caught the ferry to Wellington in the north island. It was our last journey with the car before we dropped it off in the morning.

Our ferry was booked for lunchtime so we had a little while to wait. Luckily the weather was nice so we sat outside by a little lake with a mini train track around it. Chris and I went on the train but we couldn't get lisa involved. Although she did join us and play with the little sailing boats and had race on the lake...she loves playing games really!

The ferry from Picton to Wellington was good, comfy seats that reclined and TV...a lot more comfortable than the Dover to Calais ones and it was nice and calm! They may be behind the times with most things but their ferries are definately up to date!

We got to Wellington about 5pm, checked into our hostel and got some 2-4-1 drinks vouchers and free meal vouchers for the bar next door. Not wanting to seem rude we took advantage of these and later went for a stroll around the city centre. We found the main shopping street which is not really that big considering it's the capital but nice to see. We found a cheap store selling easter eggs half price, it may be a little late but we all got one, those creme eggs on easter sunday didn't really last long!

Wellington definately has a city feel to it and seems a lot busier than places in the south, but being the capital you would expect that! I'm pleased we're in the north now, we don't have much time but we have planned where we're going and what we want to do so everything should fit in fine!

Courtenay Place is where all the restaurants and nightlife are so we walked there and went for a couple more beers. We were out till 9pm! I seriously think I'm becoming an alcoholic out here with all the late night boozing I'm doing! It was a good job we went back to the hostel at 9 as the guy we shared a dorm with snored so loudly when he got back in the early hours, he had been out and filled up with alcohol too so I don't think that helped. We all had to be up early wednesday morning including Mr snoresalot so I was a little annoyed at the lack of sleep I got that night. Mr Snoresalots alarm went off in the morning and I think he turned it off...I'm pretty confident he missed his bus!!

We're back on the coaches now! It was really nice having a car, being able to go where you want and when but not having to fill up with petrol, and worry about who's driving is good. It means we can all be really unsocial and get the neck pilows and i-pods out!

After our tiring night in Wellington we headed north on the coach to Taupo. It's about half way between Wellington and Auckland and is home to the largest lake in NZ. We're looking into doing our skydive here! I'll keep you posted on what happens!

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Photos

I'll miss views like this!
I think I've seen more lakes and mountains to last forever but I will miss seeing them. The south Island is definately the most picturesque place I've been to.

Manners Street
The main shopping street in Wellington.