Thursday, April 12 2018
Again a travel day. Getting all my stuff together, cleaning up the apartment and starting to walk into town around 8:00. I have enough time to get a breakfast and of course I go back to the Swedish cafe. 🙂
The bus leaves at 9:45. I get a mail from the ferry company that, because of a heavy storm the day before, the ferries still are late by 1-2 hours. I don’t need a storm, please!
Onto the bus. The trip will take about 2h 45m. The bus driver is far from the one I had on my way to Nelson. So this time I hide under my BOSE headset and listen to my audio book. But the landscape we drive through is fantastic.
The bus terminates at the ferry terminal in Picton. I check in and leave my big luggage (that gets into the hold) and am free to take 2 hours in the town of Picton. This is a small town that only seems to live of tourists and travelers who come with the ferry. Not a bad town. Small, some minor shops and eateries.
I get my lunch at a local Cafe and it was OK. Enough to get me to the hotel and over night. Back to the ferry terminal. I see the ferry coming into the harbor. We have to wait a little bit longer. In the end, the delay is 1 hour. We will arrive in Wellington at 19:00.
The ferry has not much to do for a 3,5 h journey. 1 bar, 1 cafe, 1 bistro and a souvenir shop as well as some sitting areas (you can upgrade to better seats and even for a lounge). I start my trip on the sun deck on top of the ship. Nice view, a little bit windy. Even the sun comes out for a bit.
The ship sets sails and wen leave through the beautiful landscape on both sides. The south island is so different. I have to come back some time – who pays the trip for me? 😀 After some photos and filming I find a seat downstairs and write a little bit in preparation for my blog.
As soon as we get out into the Cook Strait, you can feel the up and down of the boat. Recognizable, but not that bad. Again I find a seat and listen to my book.
Arrival i Wellington in the dark. It has started raining. After some waiting my luggage comes out on the belt as one of the last. I don’t intend to walk to my hotel so I use the Uber app again and my car arrives after 5 more minutes.
The Thorndon Hotel Wellington is located close to the parliament. A nice lobby, I am a little bit disappointed of the room, especially the bathroom. But the price was reasonable for Wellington and much better then a shared room at a hostel.
Some videos and the bed time – I didn’t do much today, but am tired.