Tue. December 23, 1997

Kaikoura was a lovely little village and we enjoyed our hostel. I hated to be pulling out already. We traveled on a road RIGHT on the coast today. It was almost on the sand in spots. There were pretty views. We picked up a bus today with Simon as the driver (Si)… some call him Psychotic!! He was a good friend of our first driver, Nick, and they are from the same town on the North Island. They had many of the same mannerisms as well. In one town he was pointing things out and told us the American Embassy was on the left. We all turned to look and there sat McDonalds! We drove to Picton in a couple of hours and then had a little time to walk the town before the ferry left at 1:00 p.m. We checked our bags and took off. Simon had to gas the bus and leave it there for the next driver. There would be a group coming from the North Island that would pick it up and we’d get their bus in Wellington. The sun only peaked out for a few minutes today. It got pretty cloudy and by the time we got on the ferry it was drizzling. It got worse so we opted to watch a movie on the ferry. It wouldn’t be too pleasant outside and the views would be limited. The movie was GI Jane and was ok. When we came out we could see land and were coming into Wellington Harbor. It was so windy up on the top deck you almost couldn’t stand up. The bus waiting for us was like an OLD school bus. My thought was Uh oh! Turns out it’s only used as a shuttle to and from the ferry. No one travels in it! I was hoping it would make it to the hostel.

We stayed at Downtown Packers, which was an old hotel build in 1946 for a visit by the Queen. We were on the fourth floor. Our window sounded like a hurricane was out there. We walked a long way to find an Internet café. Walking there reminded us of that house of illusions we visited. It was so windy – it was like testing to see how far you could lean forward and not fall over for the wind supporting you! It felt like it actually would lift your feet for a moment. We heard the next day that the winds were 120 k an hour at times. Andrew can find a Mexican place if it exists. I think there was ONE in Wellington. It was all you can eat for $16.00. He went for it. I had only nachos. It was pretty pricey but we sat and had a lovely evening. I felt a little underdressed but … Andrew had a Steinlager and smuggled the bottle out for a keepsake. We were facing into the wind on our way back which we thought we’d done on the way there!! We passed a Porsche with a chrome bike rack on it that was so unique. We took a picture to show our bike shop friend Johnny. Some people have to invent what to do with their money!