Travel to, and along the East Coast of the South Island

Life has been quite eventful since my last post, including lots of driving, late nights, and unstable to unusable internet in some of the most remote corners of New Zealand. Now writing from the house of some friends of my grandmother’s, after enjoying a very pleasant home-cooked meal, I am delighted to find some time to write and update anyone who is interested in my travels.

After catching our train from Tongariro NP to Wellington more than a week ago, we arrived in the beautiful capital city with time to walk to our hostel (cutely named the Dwellington) and pick up a delicious fish and chips dinner en route. I took the opportunity to take a quick walk around the city and found it fairly quiet after 9 pm on a Thursday. Really enjoying the architecture, but fairly tired, I found my way back to the hostel for the evening.

The next morning, we awoke early for a ferry across the Cook Strait, only to discover that it had been delayed. This was slightly worrying as we had train tickets from Picton to Christchurch that afternoon, but with the updated departure time of 8:45 am and train tickets scheduled for 1:40 pm, the supposed 3.5 hour trip didn’t seem to be cutting things too close. Our arrival at the ferry terminal was uneventful, but much to our dismay we ended up sitting there in the waiting area until well past 9, watching torrential rain fall just outside the windows. When we finally were given permission to board, we were followed by dozens of vehicles making their way (slowly of course) onto the ferry vehicle decks. When the boat finally departed from Wellington, after 10 am, we were both feeling substantially less optimistic about our day’s schedule. Unfortunately, things were well out of our hands at that point, so I resolved to enjoy the beautiful views along the ferry route, and was happy to notice the rain cleared up very quickly.

When the ferry finally pulled into Picton harbor it was tantalizingly close to 1:40, but in what felt like a cruel twist of fate at the time, we were made to wait as all of the vehicles unloaded. After disembarking in Picton, we were then made to load onto a bus out of the port for a diminutive ride, unload to pick up our bags, then load onto a different bus over to the information center and train station in town. After minimal bus travel but a frustrating amount of loading and unloading time, we arrived at the train station, which was closed for the day, almost an hour past our train’s scheduled departure. Dismayed and well past hoping for a delayed train ride, we went first to the information center and began looking for a way to get back on track with our reservations. It quickly became clear that short of an hours-long chartered ride, we wouldn’t be making it to Christchurch that evening. We decided to adjust our car rental to the next day and book a bus the next afternoon to get us down the coast. Luckily, the kind people at the information center were also able to find two beds for us for the evening in a very affordable hostel. No longer worried that we would be unable to find a place for the night, I finally started to relax.

Adjusting to our newly modified plans, we worked our way across town to our accommodations for the night. I was cheered up after arrival when I spoke with some other backpackers who invited me to their evening’s St Patrick’s Day celebration, particularly apt given that the only pub in town was an Irish one. After cooking a nice dinner of local lamb and vegetables with my grandmother, I cleaned up and prepared to go out for the evening. After some time chatting with the group of about 10 in the hostel and waiting for the evening’s rain to abate, we decided to brave the elements a little after 9 pm. Arriving at a packed pub, I ordered some Irish beer and enjoyed a wonderful and raucous evening filled with lots of green, a great band, and a surprising amount of English/American music. We all made it back safely to the Hostel well after midnight and chatted for a while before heading to bed. Reflecting now, I am happy and grateful that I was able to turn an at times very frustrating day into a wonderful experience and meet some great fellow travellers along the way.

The next morning I awoke surprisingly early given the previous night’s celebrations. After a small breakfast, I walked with my grandmother back to the city center, planning to await our afternoon bus and explore the small but picturesque town of Picton. Meeting briefly with a new friend from the previous night, we decided to visit a local museum containing the partially restored and now preserved ship Edwin Fox. The oldest surviving merchant ship in the world, the oldest remaining Australian convict hauler, and many other impressive superlatives. The ship and other artifacts contained in the museum were a fascinating glimpse into maritime history in and around New Zealand, and seeing the water-worn wood and metal responsible for numerous great 19th-century journeys was truly awe-inspiring. It also served as a visceral reminder of just how far technology has come in the less than 200 years since the vessel, cutting edge for its time, was first built. After a wonderful morning on the Picton waterfront, we finally boarded our bus down to Christchurch, with beautiful coastal views much of the way. When we arrived in the city, we called an Uber to the airport (the only open car rental kiosk past 6 pm) in order to pick up our vehicle for the rest of our time on the south island. This was fairly uneventful, but we got on the road a little past 8, with our eye on Dunedin where our accommodations lay for the evening. Fully prepared to stop and sleep in the car if needed, I began the long drive south. We arrived in Dunedin that evening a little past 1 am, and found our room surprisingly spacious, though I’m sure we would have been thrilled with any sort of soft surface at that point. We were both in bed and asleep quickly, happy to be back on track.

With plenty more to write about, I’m posting this now, before what is looking to be a wonderful day in Abel Tasman NP, just in the hopes of getting closer to caught up! I hope this finds everyone well, and that I can get another post out this evening.