Aotearoa 15 - "My Shangri-La beneath the summer moon, I will return again..."

Feb. 2, 2007: Picton to Wellington ferry

Today we said goodbye to the South Island. I loved my time there, and I want to go back already!!

This morning we checked out of Blenheim and drove to Picton, where we basically just got on the ferry. It looked like another nice town to check out, but we didn't stop. The ferry was really fun and huge! We drove the car onto it and then roamed around. It was pretty windy and a bit chilly outside, but I found a nice bench in the back out of the wind where I spent most of my time reading and relaxing. It was really cool! For some of the trip across the Strait you could see both islands, and to the east the Pacific Ocean! It was a really relaxing ride - about 3 hours, and like I've said earlier about motion in general, it made me sleepy. It was a beautiful day, and a fun trip.


...The deck where all the cars/vehicles are parked


...The Pacific Ocean!!


...Farewell to the South Island


...Nice place to relax and enjoy the ride!


...Hello to Wellington!

When we arrived in Wellington it already felt *really* different from the places we'd been in the South Island. That was probably mostly because we'd only been in small towns the whole time. It was weird getting back to a big city. Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, of course, and it's one of the top 3 big cities. It was such a difference! The roads here felt a lot more like the roads I'm used to from back home - just bigger and busier. The "highway" felt a lot more like the highways in the States too. The highway in the South Island was always going through mountains, so it felt more like the mountain roads in NC/TN/SC/VA/KY.

The traffic was especially crazy this weekend because it's the weekend of the international rugby competition - the "7's". Not only did we not know exactly where we were going, but we also had to fight this traffic that we weren't used to, and be extra mindful of pedestrians. On a side note, the people going to this competition REALLY get into it - they go all out and dress up all crazy. I forget all the different costumes we saw, but there were some crazy ones! :) We also saw some people on the ferry who must've been on their way to watch. While we were driving around town we even passed the huge rugby stadium. (looked kinda like a football stadium!) ;)

I decided after this little excursion through the city that I liked the small towns and mountains better. :) Also I found that I liked one grocery store chain - called "Fresh Choice" - better than the one we found here. Funny how that happens, right?

The big thing we did in Wellington was go to the national museum - Te Papa. It was really big!! You could spend a whole day in there, but we only had a few hours. It was really neat, though. It reminded me of the kids' museums in Indianapolis and Louisville.....and that makes me want to go visit them when I get home again. :) Anyway, it had lots of stuff. I thought the Maori exhibits were especially fascinating. There was one display I really loved that had a lot of Maori instruments, and you could listen to excerpts of their sounds. Some of them had a really beautiful, mellow sound!


...Te Papa museum exhibit

There were also some neat exhibits about the first settlers who came to NZ from Europe and their stories. Apparently when they were trying to settle the area the only requirement was a willingness to go! It didn't matter if you were a single young woman, they'd take you! Other exhibits I enjoyed were about wool in NZ. Of course, wool is one of the biggest industries in NZ, so they've become pretty resourceful at using it. :) The exhibits showed some of the process of shearing sheep and making wool fabric, as well as some of the finished products, clothing, etc. The clothing that gets the prize, though: a wedding dress. Yes, there was a wedding dress made out of wool! It didn't look like wool at all, though! There were other fun dresses too, but I wasn't sure if we were allowed to take pictures inside the museum. :)

Eventually we found our place to stay. I say eventually because it was a little out of town and therefore a little hard to find. It was the nicest place we stayed so far, though. It even had a kitchenette inside, and our own bathroom! The Poon's all went out to eat, but I just wanted to stay in and conserve money, which was fine. I didn't starve! ;) Actually, I had fun, because while they were out I looked on T.V. and was able to watch some of the rugby matches going on! I couldn't quite figure everything out, but it was fun to watch! Brutal, aggressive sport it is, but I got hooked! :) I'll have to look more into that too. Add it to my ever-increasing list!