The North Island
Posted by Sarah O'Neill , Wednesday, 4 May 2011 02:54
On Tuesday we didn't have to get up early which was nice! We drove to Picton where we were booked on the 1.40pm ferry to the north island, and got there with plenty of time to spare. We got some sausages and drove up to a nice picturesque spot above the town and Ben cooked us a sausage sandwich to have with some of our yummy chutney that we bought on our wine tour! We headed for the ferry nice and early, drove on and then left the van to go and find somewhere nice to sit. We went up onto the sundeck to watch the boat leave the harbour, and then went and sat in a cafe for the rest of the trip. Had a yummy cup of tea and millionaires shortbread whilst planning what we'd like to do in the north island! The 3 hour trip went quickly, and before we knew it, it was time to get back in the van and drive off! We had a brochure for a motorhome park right in the middle of town, so headed there first. It is quite a strange set up, basically it is a carpark with a touch screen check in and pay point, codes for the toilets and showers, and it is slap bang in the middle of town! Most of Wellington city centre is walkable, so we thought it would be a good idea to be in a central location.
It was rather odd to get up in the morning and walk to the shower block with people walking to work right outside the van, very odd! However, it is a great central location and we were able to walk to the National museum, Te Papa for the morning. Entry is free and there is a lot to see and do! It's a huge building, and has loads of great exhibitions! We whiled away quite a few hours, one of the highlights was a Colossal Squid, preserved in a huge tank with lots of info and a video about it being caught. We also saw a great exhibition of a New Zealand photographer's work which was pretty cool, and some 20th Century social history which I really enjoyed! Grabbed lunch in a sandwich bar and headed to the information centre.
The weather got a bit sucky and rained, so we headed back to the van for a nice warm hot chocolate, and then when the rain stopped we went to check out The New Zealand Film Archives. Bascially there are a few computers there, and you can search through and find all NZ films etc, including documentarys, adverts, films and trailors, etc etc. I could have spent hours there, there was loads of social history documentaries, films of the Queen visiting, documentarys about ten pound poms, and all sorts! It wasn't really Ben's thing, although he found something about Killer Whales to watch which kept him entertained for a while!
We headed back to van for dinner, and planned our route through the north island. We have so much we want to do, and so little time! We have made a little plan and hope to jam it all in! Driving for about 5 hours tomorrow to get to a place that has a great 16 km walk to do, aparently it's really good, so looking forward to that!
Sarah x
Well done Sarah and all up to date and me too with the read. That's Wednesday afternoon done. What a way to spend it. Great. Look forward to the photos close up. Some could win prizes!! XX