Last Day in Wellington - Finally Sunny!

My last day in Wellington and, go figure, out comes the sun!

With the morning sunshine, we decided to get in some of those touristy Wellington attractions. Michaela took me to the Botanical Gardens. We hiked up a hill to an awesome setting. There are a couple of concert venues where they have outdoor concerts amongst the gardens, really cool. From the gardens, we rode the cable car from the top of the gardens to the city center. We grabbed a coffee and I stopped at the isite (tourist information center) to make some plans for the days to come. We picked up some grab-n-go sushi. Sushi "takeaways" here are pretty convenient. A display case with different rolls, nigiri, etc. is there and you take the pieces you want - you don't have to take a whole roll, just a piece. This was the first time I had a roll with prepared tuna inside, meaning tuna that we normally put inside a tuna sandwich - not bad, interesting, but not bad. We had to race back up the cable car to the gardens and walk back down the other side of the hill to her car. We were "racing" because we were worried about her car getting ticketed or towed! We made it, no ticket - whew!

From the gardens, we picked up Michaela's friend Sam and headed to the beach to eat our Sushi. It was such a nice day. I said goodbye to Sam and we went back to her place.

I packed my things and Michaela took me to the ferry station. I was sad to say good-bye. We are already planning her next trip to visit!

I caught the Interislander ferry (a very LARGE ferry) to Picton. The ferry was transporting cars, big rigs, freight cars and people - this boat was LARGE! This was my transition sail from the North Island to the South Island. The ferry ride was pretty smooth and I really enjoyed the end of the trip which sailed through the Marlborough and Queen Charolette Sounds. Upon arrival in Picton, I caught the bus to Nelson. There were so many vineyards along the way. The Marlborogh region is known for it's wine production and it's Sauvignon Blanc. I arrived in Nelson, actually at the front door of the hostel I had booked, Accents on the Park. My room was hot and stuffy and too crowded - boo! I crashed almost right when I got there. I had to get some sleep - Nature Girl planned to make an appearance the next day!

NOTE: On a side note, the bus here, specifically the Intercity Bus Company, is awesome. The normal bus lines are like tours. The drivers commentate on the area that you are driving through along the way. I've learned a lot about the outlying regions of the areas thanks to the bus drivers and, when they can, they'll find out where you are staying and drop you off right in front of your hotel/hostel!