Waitangi Weekend: Wellington

Like many a good blogger who also pretends to be a scientist, I've fallen.. oh... three weeks behind now in posting photos from the second half of my Waitangi Day Weekend trip.

At last!  A sort-of view of the Kaikoura Range.

I left Kaikoura on the Coastal Pacific train to head up to Picton, the interisland ferry port on the South Island.  Along the way, we got through some of the fog to see glimpses of the mountains, ducked through plenty of tunnels, and passed some very scenic wine country.

One of many vineyards in New Zealand's famed wine country.

Salt-making at work.  These vast pools are turned red by
some halophilic (salt-loving) microbes.

As usual, I spent my train ride in the viewing car, looking ahead for tunnels and traffic signs before sticking my head out to take photos.

About all I got to see of Picton.

I had an hour's layover in Picton before my ferry departed for Wellington, which I'd planned to use to take a glance around the small waterfront area.  But much to my surprise, when they say "Check in 45 minutes ahead of ferry departure," what they mean is, "Check in 45 minutes ahead, and get on board 40 minutes ahead."  So before I knew it, I had shouldered my way to the forward-most corner of the top deck (of ten(!) decks), and, camera in hand, was preparing for a three-hour crossing of the Cook Strait.

The sister vessel of the ferry I was aboard.  This one is,
believe it or not, actually smaller than our ship. 

If I weren't so afraid of heights, it would've been profoundly
tempting to jump off the ferry and ask the sailboat to take me aboard.

The ferry ride is advertised as the "most scenic ferry ride in New Zealand" (though, while I haven't looked rigorously, I've yet to hear of another ferry ride), but according to some personal accounts, can be a little rough.  Fortunately for me, I'm neither prone to seasickness, nor (apparently) unlikely to encounter bad weather.  Once we'd cleared the South Island, we were in one-meter seas the whole way across the Strait, which made for an almost too-pleasant ride: I'm someone who likes to feel the sea beneath me, which takes some doing on a huge ferry.

By the time we docked in Wellington, it was nearing 5pm, so I didn't have time to check out the more common tourist attractions, like the museums and gardens for which the city is renowned.  I did, however, pull on my running sneakers for a jog about town (including, of course, a spot of beachcombing which yielded a few more abalone paua shells).

One of many stairwells that allow pedestrians to
shortcut the switchback streets.  You have to be
careful not to inadvertently wind up in someone's
backyard, however.

Wellington is a city built into hillsides.  Though it slowed me to walking pace at times, I enjoyed the stairwells and steep paths that took me up Mt. Victoria, to a spectacular overlook of the city.

Looking out at Wellington's downtown.

A room with a view.  I think our orchids could
be very happy here...

You really don't want to take any construction-zone turns too
fast.  When I heard that the big earthquake was really expected
to be in Wellington, I was horrified.  All the houses (and the cars
parked on wooden slots built jutting out of the hillside) would just
go sliding into the sea!

By the time I finished my meandering trot, it was nearly nightfall.  I had time to stash my shell collection addendum in my pack before wandering out in search of food (I'd finally run out of pre-packed sandwiches) and an internet connection.  I think L. enjoyed our Skype-call with the lit-up Wellington skyline in the background!

All in all, Wellington is an incredibly lively-feeling city.  Though I only had a few hours there, I was very impressed.  It seems a lot "bigger" and more worldly than Christchurch, though much of this has to do with the quake damage that Chch has sustained, I'm afraid.

Sunrise on my way from the hostel to my return ferry ride.

Though I definitely didn't have enough time in Wellington as I would've liked, it's definitely a spot I'll return to when I manage to appropriately plan some travel time into my next stay in NZ.  (I'm due to return at least twice: once in nine months or so to harvest a greenhouse experiment we'll be setting up over the next few weeks, and once about nine months after that to harvest a follow-on experiment.  More on this later.)

Departing the North Island onto the "high seas" of the Cook Strait.

 Having splurged on train and ferry tickets on the way up the coast, I took a bus from Picton back to Christchurch.  It was an enjoyable (if slightly more cramped) ride, and I was able to draft a column, eavesdrop on the conversations of returning boarding school students, and get one last look at Kaikoura -- this time, under sunnier conditions.

We had a fifteen-minute leg stretch at Kaikoura on the way
home to Christchurch.  What a spectacular color that sea is!

Naturally, some clouds still blocked out those mountains!