We"LL"ington on the North Island
Yesterday, Thursday the 31st, was probably the longest travel day so far.
It started with an early 7:30 am bus ride to Picton, which dropped me off at the Ferry terminal. The 11:30 ferry was cancelled, due to rough weather (which should have been a warning to me...) so I was put on the 2:30 ferry. That gave me some time to do a little shopping, have some breakfast, and walk around.
The ferry was delayed again until 4pm, and once the huge swarm of people pushed and shoved their way onto the boat and found seating, it was fine. : )
The ferry ride started out great. My ship was the Arahua. It's a huge ferry, holds about 750 people and 200 cars, and travels about 36 knots/hour.
When we first started out, and traveled into the Queen Charlotte Sound, the water was calm, and everything was great. I chatted with some people around me, read the newspaper, treated myself to a beer (Monteigth's Black).
Once we hit the Troy Channel, things changed. The water was extremely rough, water kept crashing on the front decks, and my stomach started flip-flopping. I found a spot upstairs, by the doors, and for an hour and a half, I stood there so that I could breathe fresh air, and keep my eyes on the horizon. People around me were hurling, and it was all I could do to remain calm, breathe, and relax. I think that was the worst case of seasickness that I've experienced. Hours later, when I walked the streets of Wellington in search of dinner, my legs still felt wobbly. ; )
I arrived in Wellington around 7pm. It was pouring rain, and by the time I found my luggage, got onto a shuttle bus that took me to the train station downtown, and walked to my backpackers, it was close to 8:30pm. I got my bed, YAY, freshened up, and in the pouring rain, walked down to the trendy Cuba street for dinner. I found a great second-hand bookstore, got myself something to read, and ate at place called EastWest, which was a delicious blend of Asian/Bistro dishes! Mmmm!!
Today, Friday morning, it's still pouring outside, so I am off to explore the Te Papa Museum of New Zealand. (It's supposed to be similar to our Museum of Civilization.) I hope to spend a few days relaxing in Wellington, and sight-seeing.
It started with an early 7:30 am bus ride to Picton, which dropped me off at the Ferry terminal. The 11:30 ferry was cancelled, due to rough weather (which should have been a warning to me...) so I was put on the 2:30 ferry. That gave me some time to do a little shopping, have some breakfast, and walk around.
The ferry was delayed again until 4pm, and once the huge swarm of people pushed and shoved their way onto the boat and found seating, it was fine. : )
The ferry ride started out great. My ship was the Arahua. It's a huge ferry, holds about 750 people and 200 cars, and travels about 36 knots/hour.
When we first started out, and traveled into the Queen Charlotte Sound, the water was calm, and everything was great. I chatted with some people around me, read the newspaper, treated myself to a beer (Monteigth's Black).
Once we hit the Troy Channel, things changed. The water was extremely rough, water kept crashing on the front decks, and my stomach started flip-flopping. I found a spot upstairs, by the doors, and for an hour and a half, I stood there so that I could breathe fresh air, and keep my eyes on the horizon. People around me were hurling, and it was all I could do to remain calm, breathe, and relax. I think that was the worst case of seasickness that I've experienced. Hours later, when I walked the streets of Wellington in search of dinner, my legs still felt wobbly. ; )
I arrived in Wellington around 7pm. It was pouring rain, and by the time I found my luggage, got onto a shuttle bus that took me to the train station downtown, and walked to my backpackers, it was close to 8:30pm. I got my bed, YAY, freshened up, and in the pouring rain, walked down to the trendy Cuba street for dinner. I found a great second-hand bookstore, got myself something to read, and ate at place called EastWest, which was a delicious blend of Asian/Bistro dishes! Mmmm!!
Today, Friday morning, it's still pouring outside, so I am off to explore the Te Papa Museum of New Zealand. (It's supposed to be similar to our Museum of Civilization.) I hope to spend a few days relaxing in Wellington, and sight-seeing.
posted by lala at 5:23 PM
3 Comments:
Wow! Quite the adventure you're having!
It can't possibly top kickoff, of course, but wow!
The LaLa Mama is on her way to visit Te Papa! Hope you enjoy the museum!
On behalf of Amina:
"I miss you dada"
-- signing off.
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