01-11-2008 From Wellington to Picton

Travel blog about our trip to New Zealand in October/November 2008
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Pieter
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01-11-2008 From Wellington to Picton

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1 November 2008 - Picton, New-Zealand

The lights went out quite early yesterday evening, after the hot shower and the nice meal we didn’t last long. Of course we had to update our travel blog with the adventures of the day, including some photos. This also meant we were awake early and after breakfast in the restaurant we went on our way in to the city. Here we paid a visit to the Te Papa museum, an enormous building which stretches over 6 stories with shop, restaurants and displays over all kinds of stuff about New Zealand.
We went for the exhibit “Awesome Forces”, all about the geology of mother earth ( www.tepapa.govt.nz ). We’ve been on an earthquake enactment, which wasn’t all too bad. They show lots of information on the eruptions there have been, some of the even on film. Furthermore there are beautiful things to find about the Maori culture, canoe’s and community buildings, but also weapons like clubs, spears and axes. These are made from wood with jade tied on to it, real beauties.

The story won’t be long today, because the ferry arrived late in the harbour and we left with 45 minutes delay. The weather had been turned against us, the winds reached gale force 8 to 9 and it was raining cats and dogs :lach2: . De temperature wasn’t too bad, about 17 degrees C.
Once outside the bay there was a high sea, I estimated the waves to about 5 metres high, because the ferry pitched hard, crashing into the waves with a loud bang, walking about became a real adventure. We had a meal in the ship’s café in order to save us some shopping and cooking at the campsite.
We arrived shortly after 6 PM at Picton and decided to stay the night on this campsite www.pictontop10.co.nz , while Blenheim was scheduled. It’s a nice campsite and as we tell our story other campers are filling the spots. No wonder, there were a whole bunch behind us on the ferry. At the moment we are enjoying our drinks and hope to fill you in on our adventures at the campsite for tomorrow. (P)

Hai! Well, the rain has catched up on us, it’s pouring down right now, too bad, because the weather was fine when we arrived. Wellington lives up to its nick name The Windy City! At the museum the wind was blowing so hard that there were some kids losing their shoes :lach1: , with as a result many crying kids :lach1: :lach1: .
The wind had really picked up. While waiting on the ferry we made some photos from the harbour, but after a while we couldn’t see anything, the rain came crashing down horizontal and was shaking the campervan. We’re going to add a few photos so you get to see it as well! Tomorrow we’re going south along the Pacific Ocean to Kaikoura, where you can buy wale sighting trips. We don’t know yet if we are going to, it all depends on the weather and the available time (although we think we’re entitled for a treat!). Also Pieter has got some serious crayfish eating on his mind!!
I’ve found a different campsite (one which is not on the schedule) where they cook them on site for you, so that should cover it.
The weather forecast says it’s going to nice weather for the next 2 days and that’s good for us, because the trip for tomorrow will take us down the coastal road on the east side of the South Island.
There are some places where we should see seal colonies and then on Monday we intend to cross over to the west coast, al long trip to Westport. But that’s for later, for now this is about it, no more to tell.
Just one request, please don’t send us photos via email until we are back home, it takes about half an hour to download them and we need all the internet time we can get around here. Everything is real slow around here sadly!!
Than this: the motel in between was a real treat!! If and when I’m physically worn out again, we’ll do it again :knip1: . Furthermore, we already booked a hotel for our last night in New Zealand, so we should start our trip back home with plenty of rest, but that’s something we really don’t think about right now!!! Bye dears, see you tomorrow (hopefully)!!! XX (M)
Don't put your mouth into motion, before your brain is in gear.
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