What an incredible place New Zealand is. Wow!
We arrived there just after lunch and found two cruise ships docked. I am afraid this colored our visit somewhat. The downtown area was packed with tourists before we even got out of our bus. Our bus driver dropped us off at the bottom of the Wellington cable car. It's actually a funicular but they call it a cable car. There was a huge long line up right out onto the street and down the block but luckily we already had tickets so were able to avoid that wait and go almost directly to board the car.
Once at the top we had a wonderful view of Wellington Harbour. From the top there are trails that lead down through the Botanical Gardens right back to the Main Street.
It was a lovely walk down past all the different gardens. And admission was free so we all thought it a great deal! Took about 45 minutes to get back down. From there we walked past the New Zealand parliament buildings called The Beehive. Quite unique eh?
The next plan was to go to the Wellington Museum which we were both very keen on and it's free as well. But once we got there we found many other tourists had the same idea and there was a great long lineup to see the special display of the Battle of Gallipoli. We only had 45 minutes so we chose to see the Maori displays instead and they were very interesting. At 3:45 we had to be back on the bus so our bus driver could drive down to the ferry for the South Island. The ferry leaves at 5pm and we were inside the departure gate by 4:00. We walked on while the bus driver drove the bus onto the ferry empty. Not sure why. But what really surprised us is that the passengers load onto the boat as they arrive after 4 and we were already eating our dinner in the dining room by 4:20 and the ferry pulled away from the dock at 4:45, 15 minutes early. Never heard of that.
A nice 3 hour sail over to Picton, the ferry terminal for the South Island. Not as many places to sit as on the BC Ferry but we just hung out in the dining room. Went outside as we went through Queen Charlotte Strait, leading into Picton. Very beautiful and rugged, and hardly anyone In sight, and only a few houses up on a cliff here and there. Seems very remote.
This is our ferry as seen from out hotel room at the Beachcomber in Picton. Very pleasant hotel and still decorated for Christmas in a big way.
Tomorrow another hike.
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