Wellington, New Zealand

Arrived safely yesterday after 3 hours on a HUGE ferry, one that's big enough to have 4 levels, level 1 has trains, level 2 trucks & cars, level 3 general public, level 4 special class (you pay $20 extra to go there - I didn't so I can't tell you much about it).

We managed to avoid the bad weather which was arriving in Picton as we were leaving & when we arrived here in Wellington the weather was cloudy but not pouring with rain as it had been earlier in the day.

I'm staying at the Base Backpackers which is very nice, sorta a NYC feel to it with high ceilings and the lift is that old school type like dad's apartment use to have.

Yesterday afternoon I had a bit of a walk around town, down Courtenay Place, through the Courtenay Quarter, which is known for theatres, galleries and hostels.  Then down Manners Street, through the Cuba Quarter, known for funky boutiques, art galleries, cafes and the opera house.  Then onto Willis Street through the Lambton Quarter which is renown for high end shopping, heritage government buildings and the cable car.

Once I got to the cable car I took that up to see the view of the city from above and then decided to walk back down to to the city via the walk through the Botanical Gardens, which are beautiful even though it's fall here and none of the flowers are out.  At the end of the walk I took a mini detour so I could see the Parliament building which is also called the Beehive - you can guess why!

Today I went to see Te papa, the Museum of New Zealand, which was amazing - you can get lost in it's 6 levels with all of it's displays.  I also walked along the waterfront area, until it started to rain, then I came back home.

Picton, New Zealand

Since I last wrote, we've been on the move!  Left Queenstown early in the morning and took a bus to Fox Glacier.  Where the weather did not work in our favour.  The recent rains had closed the walking tracks to the glacier and the day's clouds were thick & low, obstructing good views of the glacier and mountains near by.

Sara went to Lake Matherson and walked around it, ever hopeful the clouds would "burn off" as everyone promised they would do in the late afternoon . . . well they didn't but the walk was still beautiful and the reflection photos with the sunset on the clouds was beautiful.

Next morning boarded the bus up to Greymouth, where we boarded the Tranzalpine train to Christchuch.  It's a 4.5 hour trip, over 231km, 19 tunnels, a 73m viaduct, and at it's highest point is 737m above sea level!  Amazing scenery on this train trip!  Spent the night in a hostel in Christchurch, before getting up early to catch the 7am Transcostal train from Christchurch to Kaikoura.

10am, arrived at Kaikoura, all whale watching trips were cancelled due to the high winds (120kph gusts apparently) so we spent the day browsing the shops.  Next morning at 10.15am, we boarded the Transcostal train again for a 2 hour trip to Picton.

Picton is the town where the ferry leaves from to go to Wellington.  For those of you not familiar with NZ geography (don't be embarrassed, I didn't know until looking at a map once I got here) but there are 16km between the south (which I'm on now) and north island.  There isn't a bridge or tunnel, cause the Cook Straight is so deep they can't build one!  The straight is also considered one of the 4 most dangerous to cross because the weather can change so fast, one minute it can be as calm as glass and within an hour can have 4m swells - or so they tell me.

Today's adventures included a boat tour of the Queen Charlotte Sound - very beautiful!

Tomorrow is the 3 hour ferry to Wellington.