In the morning we took the bus to Picton to take the interislander. We
had been told that the crossing was extremely rough, but we got lucky
and sea like glass for our voyage. It probably helps that the 2pm
crossing is the biggest boat they have and dwarfs the others so it
doesn't suffer from rocking too much. The trip through the Marlborough
Sounds was nice, but nothing spectacular. I am very glad we didn't stay
in Picton as there is no need. When we got close to the open sea we
went below deck as the wind was whipping through the top deck. That was
a real big mistake. Halfway across the crossing the captain said orcas
were off the port side (Very helpful. Is port right or left. I had
no idea). Anyway when we ran up the stairs they had already
disappeared. Fuck sake. One of the two animals I most wanted to see
and we had missed them for an ice cream. That ice cream is right up
there with the damn hot chocolate that caused me to miss the explosion
of Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone. Damn it. Orcas. Damn it.
After an uneventful journey we rocked up in Wellington. Ooh. Traffic.
A real city. The walk in from the port doesn't fill you with awe as
its shitty out there, but the downtown is nice. That night we went to
see Captain America:Winter Soldier which is a solid blockbuster.
In the morning we met up with my friend Andy after a brief stint in Te
Papa. Was the first time I had seen him since just before this blog
started way back with my US trip. Full circle. He had been living in
Wellington for nearly 6 years now. Time flies. He took us around the
port area which is really cute at the weekend. It looks a little
forlorn and dead in the week when the rain comes. Wellington really is
two different cities depending on the weather. We climbed the hill to
see the town and the views up there are really nice. He then walked us
through Cuba Street, down to Parliament and a loop back down the
harbour. Was cool to catch up and really enjoyed the walking tour of
the highlights of the city. In the evening we went to see The Raid 2,
which is a good film, even if its not as tight and thrilling as the
first one. We were enjoying being able to kick back. We bumped into
the English girl from Queenstown and she was there to work. In our room
there was an Argentinean guy and he was working in sales there. Still
seems like a shitty deal if you are on a working holiday visa here.
In the morning the weather was shitty so we went back to Te Papa to
finish it off. Its a truly remarkable museum. Well worth a visit.
Went on the earthquake simulator, saw the giant squid, played a few of
the games (lifting rocks, sailing boats, seeing what animals to take
when you colonise a new planet etc). Its a cool interactive museum and
can suck up your time. We spent a total of around 5 hours in there.
The only downside was having to do a stupid exit survey for a robotic
woman at the end. Seriously she had no human emotions whatsoever. Then
we walked over to Parliament and Andy sent us a text to invite us over
for dinner to his place. We took the ridiculously expensive local bus
($5 one way) to his place and had a look around. Its a nice place.
They were cooking us spaghetti bolognaise when Andy said he had
forgotten one small ingredient. We asked him what it was and he said
the pasta. Small ingredient indeed lol. He ran down the hill to get
some and we had dinner. Was really nice. We met his wife Marpesa and
chatted about everything and nothing. Was a really nice evening. Has
been good to catch up with friends on this trip.
The next day it was still shitty so we went to the Museum of the City
and Sea. Its not bad, but its nowhere near as interesting as Te Papa.
We did nothing with the rest of the day and just chilled in the hostel.
In the evening was when we got chatting with Varun about the outback
roadtrip and organised the whole thing. Its all now sorted and fixed.
The next day was our last day and we went to meet Andy for a hot
chocolate and scone near his work. Following that we went to see
Nymphomaniac at the cinema. Its a really complex and interesting film.
The story is interesting, but the real time conversation is cheesy and
thinks it is cleverer than it is. Its a real mixed back of a film and
definitely worth seeing. I don't see how it can be seen as
controversial though. Its quite funny and some parts are really good,
while others are quite trite. In the evening we just chilled again.
Its going to be a long time of shitty weather.
After 5 days of chilling in Wellington we finally set off to take the
bus to Napier. We had heard it was art deco and Gaudi esque. Well its
art deco. The bus ride was really long and we bumped into the German
guy who had been in our hostel in Christchurch. There was a fuck up in
Palmerston North and one bus drove off without passengers, so we had to
chase it to Bulls to drop off passengers. We ended up being 1.5 hours
late but it didn't matter as there is not much to see in Napier. Its
nice. Nothing more. Some of the architecture is cute, but I wouldn't
go out of my way to see it. We did the walk up the cliff and were
rewarded with a nice view out over the port. Was insightful to watch
the ships being loaded and unloaded. We only had half a day and it
proved sufficient for what we needed to do. North island was not
blowing me away so far, though now it was onwards to Rotorua where I am
sitting and it seems more interesting here, even if the rain is
continuing to hammer down.
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