Welcome to the North Island of New Zealand!!!

Sunday 31st January 2010, Kaikoura-Wellington

Our destination today was Wellington, the capital of New Zealand!

We left Kaikoura at about 9am, feeling a little delicate but not so bad!!! Neither Melissa nor Jane were on the bus as they were both going back to Christchurch. The bus was a mixture of new people just starting on the South Island, people like us who had done the South and were now going to the north island and then some people that had done it all and were just going back to Auckland for flights.

Anyway from Kaikoura we drove for about 45 minutes and then stopped for some breakfast at a really nice café. We were there for about half an hour and then it was back on the bus and express through to Picton which is where the bus split and for those of us going to wellington this is where we caught the ferry. Now I don't know about you guys but my belief before coming to New Zealand was that the whole country was joined by roads. This is not the case, to get from the south island to the north island you either have to fly or take a ferry. And because were budget travelers we were going by ferry.

So we arrived at the ferry terminal at about 11:45am and after checking our bags in just like when catching a plane we had a bit of a wait before boarding as the actual ferry wasn't due to depart until 1:10pm. Now we were a little bit skeptical about the ferry journey as it has appeared that everyone who had done this journey before had all had bad journeys with big amounts of sea sickness! Prior to us coming away neither of us thought we suffered with sea sickness but since being away this has been proved to be so not true! So these days we are both prepared with sea sickness tablets!

The ferry journey takes about 3 hours give or take depending on the weather. When we left Picton it was a wee bit drizzly and not looking like it was going to be a calm journey as also it was extremely windy! We left on time and to start with it was OK but very windy, to the point that when I went out on deck to take some photos I was nearly blown off my feet and when I tried to get back inside, the wind was so strong that I couldn't get back inside as it had the door jammed. I had to pull and a guy on the other side pushed and finally we got it open.

As I said it started off okay but just before we were entered the Cook Straight an announcement was made by the captain that anyone who suffers with sea sickness was advised to move towards the rear of the boat and up higher. We both decided that as we were comfortable and quite likely to fall asleep we would stay where we were. Thankfully we were fine, the waves were fairly large to the point they were going over the top of the ferry but it was fun to watch when we were awake!

Once in Wellington and re acquainted with our bags we all jumped onto the Kiwi bus, only this time it was more like an old school bus! Its such a short journey to the hostels they don't bother with the normal coach. So it was a bit of a squash but funny all the same.

We had decided to stay at BASE Wellington and opted for the girls only rooms in the sanctuary. Once we had checked in we went for a walk around central Wellington, i.e. the main street next door to our street. We then decided that we would eat out tonight and as Caroline was in need of a Sunday Roast we went in search of that but unfortunately it didn't happen. We tried a few places but no where was doing a Sunday dinner so we ended up going into an Irish pub. I had Sausage and Mash and Caroline had Beef and Guinness Stew. The only down side in New Zealand when ever you have sausages there not as good as home. They have beef sausages here and not pork-Not half as good!!!

After dinner we went back to the hostel, used the internet and then popped down to the bar. We had free drink vouchers so it seemed rude not to use them! But Caroline bizarrely opted for a soft drink only and I had a glass of wine, but just the one mind you! From here it was an early night!

Monday 1st February 2010, Wellington

We were both in need of sleep so this morning was a big lie in! We eventually got up about 11am and then leisurely got ourselves up, showered and dressed. As it was now lunch time we decided to have noodles and fruit before leaving the hostel at about 1pm.

Our mission today was UPDATE THE BLOG! So we set off in search of the i-site as we knew it had Global gossip. Although Base also has Global gossip we wanted to actually leave the hostel and not just stay put. So anyway once we had found the i-site we got ourselves settled at computers ready to start blogging. Now as Global gossip is normally $4 for 1 hour it came as a big shock to find that it was $2 for 15 minutes in I-site, so after re checking and being told yes it was $2 for 15 minutes we quickly logged off as we thought it was going to cost us $8 for an hour, which was a big no no! But then annoyingly what they hadn't told us and after logging off we then saw a sign which said, $2 for 15 mins, $3 for half an hour and $4 for an hour! Why the lady we asked couldn't have told us this, I will never know!

So having logged off and wanting to delay the inevitable a bit longer we decided to take a walk around the centre of Wellington. Anything to avoid the Blog!!! First stop was to a laminaters to have our Nevis Arc certificates laminated. And then from there we just had a walk and a quick bite to eat- we were both staving even though we had noodles before leaving the hostel. Ah well a girls' got to eat!

After we had some food we decided that we had best get back to the internet and blog. I think by now it was about 3pm and we were then in the i-site blogging and uploading photos for about 3 and a half hours. They shut at about 6:30pm and because we were on a roll and so far behind we then went into Nomads hostel and used their global gossip. I think we were here for another couple of hours and then on the way back to our hostel we ended up going to a food court and getting an Indian meal deal. We had intended to cook but after a full day on the computer neither of us could be bother.

After this we had hoped to meet up with Kate, a girl we met in Queenstown, but due to trying to communicate a meet up via the internet we ended up missing each other until the following day. So once back at the hostel we both used our free drinks voucher on a glass of wine (again only 1 glass) before having another early night with our books!

Tuesday 2nd February 2010, Wellington

Today was the day Caroline was dreading as it was museum day!!!

Firstly though we had some washing to do and some food to eat before leaving the hostel at about 11:30am. Destination-TE PAPA museum. Te Papa is the National museum of New Zealand and fittingly its situated in the capital.

As I said Te Papa is the The national museum of New Zealand and it is 6 floors of permanent and non permanent (guest) exhibitions. From precious stones of New Zealand through to Maori culture, the history of New Zealand and its people through to The Colossal Squid exhibit. (Google it if you want to know more about the squid!). I thought it was really good and it was all free! Caroline enjoyed it to a point but after 3 hours she departed, I stayed for another hour but by then even I was starting to get goggle eyes and a sore brain from all the information.

After the museum Caroline had gone to the supermarket to pick up[ stuff for tea and then gone back to the hostel to read her book and once I was done I did the same going via a coffee shop on the way.

I sorry to tell any of you who though we might go and see parliament etc, well we didn't! Its not us and we just weren't that bothered! Wellington itself is basically just another city! I didn't mind it, Caroline thought it was very industrial, and we both preferred Christchurch!

Anyway after chilling for a while, we used the internet, sorted out our remaining washing and then cooked dinner. Tonight we had Spaghetti bolognaise cooked by me! After dinner we sat out on the balcony talking to two girls and a bloke about South America. Before we knew it, it was about 10:15pm and we needed to pack as well as meet Kate for a drink. So after packing we headed down to the bar for what was meant to be 1 maybe 2 drinks! As Kate was running late we had finished our first when she arrived so number 2 was ordered as we couldn't let her drink on her own and then we all got talking to a group of lads who were just on a week break from uni in the South Island. Kate ended up leaving as she had stuff to do and we ended up staying and being persuaded to stay out a lot later than intended! Oh well we had a good night, met some new people and still made it out of Wellington the next day!!!

See you in Taupo xxx