Picton - the calm ferry town

I stayed in Picton for 1 night as well and was lucky with the weather. On my arrival clouds were covering the sky and the temperature was around 20 degrees. Picton had a very calm vibe, a lovely small waterfront area with benches to sit and enjoy the view of the harbour, small but beautiful walking street and tiny beach near a small mountain.

I talked to a man working at the local cinema/aquarium who said that Picton would always just be the bump on the road/gateway to the South Island and nothing more, this was meant in a good way, that the town would never grow any bigger and loose the calm atmosphere.

The Fat Cod Backpackers -

The hostel that I stayed in was called 'The Fat Cod' and it was an ok hostel. The staff at the reception was very welcoming and informative of the facilities of the hostel. The room that I stayed in had 2 bunk beds build into the wall and one single bed - and I was lucky to get the single bed J

It had free WIFI (not actually working), pool table, kitchen on the 1st level, bathroom with 5 showers and 4 toilets for the entire hostel to share, lounge room and a small laundry room.

I didn't really spent much time at the hostel I walked around the town with a Brazilian girl who was staying in the same room as me. We had some lunch at a pub, talked about life in Brazil and Europe and walked along the waterfront.

The Naked bus was departing at around 1pm the next day and I had some time in the morning to walk around by myself, write some postcards and do some reading about the Abel Tasman National Park.

'The Fat cod' was located just 300 meters from the ferry terminal where the bus stop was located and therefore I didn't need to rush getting to the bus.

(When hopping on the Naked bus or any other bus for that matter you have to be at the bus stop at least 15 min before departure to make sure everyone is accounted for and the driver has time to load the luggage onto the bus. I usually get to the bus stop at least 30 min before departure, hate having to stress to catch any transportation).