Wow, a lot has happened since Wellington. I really don’t even know how to start this next post because just thinking of all the things I have to catch up is giving me a bit of a headache. Oh well, best to start from the beginning, I suppose – the ferry to the South Island.
As I mentioned two posts ago, I had to catch the 7am Bluebridge ferry to Picton, so that meant a really early start to my day. Anyway who knows me can say that I’m definitely not a morning person and that I’m practically useless for the first few hours of the day, but I managed to drag myself out of bed, quickly get ready, and meet my shuttle down on the street by 6:45. Ugh. I hate going without coffee. So I chatted with the driver to wake myself up and ending up getting to the ferry building a few minutes before 7. Check in and everything was fairly simple, so it was just a matter of waiting for everything to get prepped. If I’d known that I didn’t really have to be there until 7:30, I might have slept in later, but oh well.
The plus side was that I got to watch the sun rise over the harbor, so that was pretty sweet. They eventually gave the call for boarding sometime before 8, and we all walked onto this truly massive boat. When I think of a “ferry,” I think of a little 20-seater run by a couple of guys with a radio, but this thing was like a cruise ship. I think I passed three or four flights on the stairs before I got to anything resembling the passenger area. Then that was two whole levels itself, not including the bow and viewing areas. They had a whole cafeteria, movie lounge, café, and reading area on one floor and a whole other seating area up above. Just insane.
Wellington Harbor at Dawn
Leaving Wellington
I had made a promise to myself to be outside at least 70% of the trip, though, so I went straight to the viewing deck in the front. It was exceptionally colder and windier out there, but I managed to persevere with extra gloves and a windbreaker. I’m really glad that I did stay out there, too, because the scenery is just breath-taking. I think it’s tempting to hide away in the main lounge, where it’s nice and warm, but then you miss out on the awesome views. It took forever to pull out of Wellington harbor, but we got a nice look at a few coastal suburbs and lighthouses on the way. When we were out at sea, I disappeared inside to read my book for a little bit (been trying to re-read a copy of 1984 that a German guy left behind lately), but I came out just in time to see the beginnings of the Marlborough Sounds. People have told me continuously since I first arrived in New Zealand that the South Island is heaps better than the North Island and that I should go there yesterday, but I was a little skeptical. I mean, the North Island is pretty awesome in its own right. The general consensus seems to be: the North is beautiful, but the South is just more. More wild, more overgrown, more…everything. From just that first glimpse of it on the boat, I can kind of see where they’re coming from.
My first look at the South Island. See the trees? Even New Zealand loves itself.
Okay, I’ve been on the South Island for almost a month now, and I’m still loving it, but I will say that there are pluses and minuses. Plus: Okay, really beautiful, like oh-my-God-I-need-200-pictures-of-this-fr
The sounds that we pulled into were definitely out-of-this-world. The water was a clear, picturesque blue, the mountains rose straight out of the ocean and just kept going up, and little boats were zipping around all over the coves. There were also a few tiny beach houses tucked right inside the bays, the only way in or out obviously the beach in front of them. That was pretty cool. How sweet would that be, to hop in your jet boat or sailboat and ride to town for groceries and supplies? I imagine it would get kind of old after a while, but it would be nice to stay in one of those little dock houses just for the experience.
More pretty pictures. See all of the houses on the shore?
We kept going towards Picton at a snail’s pace, and I took way too many pictures. We finally docked at the harbor there and made our way down to the cargo bay of the ship, where all of the cars and luggage trucks were kept. Once we were had all unloaded, a shuttle took a handful of us at a time over to the welcome center so that we could pick up our bags. The big, orange Stray bus was waiting for us right across the street, so that made it nice and simple for us to head over there and get on.
Docking at Picton
At first, I couldn’t figure out where the driver was. I thought that he’d just left his bus there on the side of the road and that we’d have to go track him down, but then this young guy standing a few paces away from me suddenly took charge and started giving everyone directions for loading their bags on. I still didn’t get the memo and just assumed that he was a very confident guy able to take control of a situation. Turns out that he was our driver, Caas. I have no idea how to spell that. Caz? Caaash? Think short for “casual.” Not an abbreviation for cashmere, as he informed us. And his name is so appropriate. I think he’s the most laid-back guy I’ve ever met. He’s a 20-year-old college student at Christchurch University majoring in Physics, and he’s been doing the Stray Bus thing ever since the earthquake there messed everything up. Apparently it’s something that he’s done on previous summers, so he was able to pick up where he left up while all the students were stuck wondering what to do. He’s very cool – definitely my favorite Stray driver thus far. I was impressed that first day especially because he had to organize three different drop-offs and pick-ups, collect money for various activities people wanted to do and keep it all straight, and then he had to cook a big BBQ for everyone at the end of the night. Talk about multi-tasking. I think I would have been stressed out to the extreme trying to keep it all organized, but he was Mr. Cool, just calmly asking for clarification over the speaker system and calling it in to headquarters as he was driving these super windy roads.
Our bus – “Richard,” it turns out – was equally awesome. We had a great group of people who really got on immediately, and there were quite a few entertaining characters on board. I felt like we were on a sitcom from the ‘90s, frankly. We had playboys, social butterflies, loners, overly-patriotic Americans, a crazy Jewish lady, and our token gay guy. Has anyone seen the movie, “The Boat That Rocked?” Yeah, it was kind of like that. I bonded very quickly with a small group of 5 or 6 and stayed with them all the way to Queenstown. I hadn’t really had the chance to make friends on the other Stray buses because I was only on them for a stop or two at a time, and I usually got on at a point when everyone else had already been together for several prior stops. This was different because most people had taken a few days to explore Wellington, so they were all mixed up again – hardly anyone knew each other from previous buses. Overall, it was just an amazing bunch of people. I kind of miss them now because I doubt I’ll get that lucky with a group again.
Back to Picton. We only stayed there long enough to pick up a few more people in backpackers across town, but it was a cute little coastal community. Not a whole lot there, granted, but just very quaint and pretty. We continued on towards Nelson and our destination for that night, Abel Tasman. Before we made it to either of those places, though, we stopped at a small winery on the side of the road for some wine tasting. It was only $5, so I figured it would be a nice diversion. I remembered my lessons from Henry and Nikki and was able to look like I knew what I was doing with the swirling of the glass and the breathing through the mouth thing. Overal, it wasn’t bad. I personally like super sweet wines, like Port and after-harvest Merlots, and most wines are a lot drier than that, so I knew that the chances of finding the perfect one were low. Oh well. We stayed there and walked around a bit more before hopping back on the bus with a pleasant buzz.
Wine tasting with my new friends
That eventually turned into naptime as the alcohol kicked in, so pretty much everyone was half-asleep by the time we arrived in Nelson. Before that, though, we made a little stop next to a bridge and looked down at the river. We were specifically asked not to jump off the bridge, but a few people went down in their bathing suits to swim. I thought it was way too cold for that, so I just stayed up on the shore and watched. Then we continued on to Nelson. It seems like a really nice, quiet town right next to the beach, so it’s a shame that we couldn’t stay there longer. I just grabbed something to eat from a bakery and a little money from Westpac before having to meet up with the bus again. The scenery as we left was just spectacular – lots of white, flawless beaches and people windsurfing all over the place. Again, wish we could’ve stayed longer.
The bridge we stopped at for a swim
Passing through Nelson. Sigh.
The rest of the trip to Abel Tasman was uneventful, but we got to see some nice, green hills rolling by out the window. Caas stopped at a supermarket on the way to buy groceries for our dinner – we all chipped in $10 for burgers and the works – and he also convinced us to try mussels fresh from the ocean. Surprisingly good, actually. I had a feeling that I would like them since they’re similar to clams, so that was cool.
By the time we pulled into camp, it was already getting dark. My day started at 6am, and I didn’t actually arrive at my destination until well after 8pm, so that was a long day on the road. It was good to be someplace to sit down. Our accommodation for the night was a place called The Barn, a cozy little site in a grove of trees that seemed like a fancier version of a campground. They had the whole set up with the atmosphere, rudimentary kitchen, and a few tents interspersed between the trees, but then we actually ended up staying in buildings and having hot showers. It was a nice tradeoff. Actually, because I was practically the last person in line, I managed to get an upgrade on my room for no extra charge. Instead of staying the dorms with everyone else, I got to sleep in a nice two-person cabin facing out towards the mountains. That was much quieter and a lot less hassle for me. Plus, I got roomed with Elwin, a guy who believes in a good night’s sleep and tries his best not to wake people up in the middle of the night. We were both exhausted from traveling all day, so we unanimously agreed to an early night.
Our campsite for the night
Just before bedtime, though, we all got around to cooking that feast of hamburgers, salad, mashed potatoes, mussels, and sausages. We had to work hard to keep it away from Barney the Goat, the cute family mascot of The Barn. He was very friendly and curious to meet everyone, and he took to head-butting my legs in particular. When he did that, I made it a point of calling him Barnabus, which he seemed to hate for some reason. And that was pretty much our evening for the first night. The next day was all about exploring Abel Tasman National Park, so we went to bed with the expectation that we’d be seeing some awesome beaches the next day. Don’t worry, I took plenty of pictures. Until next time!
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