February 3, 2001 Saturday - Wellington to Picton to Nelson, New Zealand
There were a lot of people catching the ferry today and we boarded the free shuttle from the train station and got dropped off at the terminal. There was a HUGE line outside the terminal for people to drop off luggage and pickup tickets, but it moved fairly fast so we didn't have to wait long until we were inside.
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| Nice view of the Tongariro mountain range, Turangi, New Zealand |
The ferry is actually fairly large, about the size of a small cruise ship and we boarded the ships and found some area to sit on the deck. Cars rolled in one by one into the ferry and eventually, we were off. The ride was actually very pleasant and beautiful landscapes lined either sides of the ferry as we cruised out of the harbour.
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| Nice view of the Tongariro mountain range, Turangi, New Zealand |
Once we were out into the open sea, the ferry picked up speed and about an hour later, land started appearing again at either side of the ferry. Queen Charlotte's Sound is a beautiful place to enter via the ferry. The small fiords were covered with bright green forests and the sea a nice hue of green. Sea gulls flew along the ferry looking for any scraps of food from the passengers.
We eventually docked in Picton, a picturesque fishing village on the northern tip of the South Island. We boarded the Magic Bus after that and headed off to Nelson right away. The bus driver is a late middle aged skinny blond with a pony tail. He smokes like a chimney.
After arriving at Nelson, we checked into a hostel called Paradisos. It has a nice outdoor area with a swimming pool and spa, and nice big kitchens for cooking. Nick and I shared a room with a Dutch couple while Patrik went to a different dorm. There are two large kitchens here and we've been carrying these cans of tuna and pasta around for a while now. We finally asked Patrick if he's going to cook us his Tuna surprise tonight and...
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