New Zealand - Day 9

November 11, 2010

This morning Derick and Lisa got up early (4:45 am) to go swim with dolphins. After the terrible experience the morning before, I was very thankful James and I decided just to sleep in and relax instead. However, I changed my mind once they came back and Lisa announced that it was THE BEST EXPERIENCE OF HER ENTIRE LIFE!!! Apparently they chose to go on their dolphin encounter during one of those one-in-a-million days when the conditions are perfect and the dolphins are numerous, active, and very curious. Lisa said there were about 300 dusky dolphins out there, including several little babies, and they hung around the boat entire time doing acrobatics, chirping, and zooming around the swimmers. The swimmers were instructed to make dolphin noises in an attempt to entertain the dolphins so they'd stick around. Thus, they got to not only see and get close to the dolphins, but they really got to play with them! AND it turns out the boat was much bigger and nicer, so James and I could have relaxed on board with hot cocoa and taken pictures through the windows. Needless to say I was super bummed to have missed out, but it could easily have gone the other way and been a miserable morning. So I guess you win some, you lose some.

Lisa took this picture off the back of the boat

before jumping in to play with them!

After they'd finished telling us all about the great time they had, we ate breakfast, packed up and headed to the town of Picton to catch the ferry up to Wellington. (Travel tip - we got a discount on our ferry tickets through the rental car company.) The landscape between Kaikoura and Picton was really beautiful: transitioning from rocky coastline to rolling green hills dotted with small vineyards. If any of us (besides Lisa) liked wine, our trip to New Zealand would have included taking advantage of their many spectacular wine trails.

It turns out that we arrived in Picton at just the right time. We hadn't noticed the box on our ferry ticket that said we had to check in no later than 12:10... and we pulled in right at 12:10!! (One of many blessings on this trip!) They directed us into the mid-sized vehicle lane between the compact cars and all of the mini vans and SUV's. We waited there for about 40 minutes for our turn to board the ferry and park our car. Once on board, we grabbed whatever we thought we might need during our three hour tour (Gilligan reference!) and headed up to the passenger decks.

This was quite a ferry! There are two floors with multiple cafes, shops and seating areas, and on the top deck is an open-air deck where you can soak in the scenery. We went up there first to watch as we set sail and started to travel through the turquoise water that flows between the green points of land. It was beautiful, but very windy so James, Derick and I headed down to the cafe on the main passenger deck to hang out and relax for the remainder of the trip to the North Island!

We all ended up sleeping for a little while, and then read and relaxed. Thankfully I didn't get motion sick! Before we knew it, the trip was over. We packed up and moved back into the car to await the all-clear to drive off of the boat and onto the North Island.

Unfortunately, it was at this point that things took a turn for the worst. The streets of Wellington are nearly impossible to navigate. The buildings are beautiful and impressive, and there are all kinds of fun shops and restaurants here in the downtown area. Also, the hills that surround the city are dotted with big houses with glass fronts over-looking the harbor. But we couldn't really enjoy the finer points of the nation's capital because we were too busy trying to figure out where our hotel was and where to park. We nearly caused a wreck a couple of times as giant busses came barreling into our lane when we thought it was a one way. Thankfully, we made it there safely after much frustration.

Central City Apartments provided us with a pretty swanky room. We were on the 12th floor overlooking the urban sprawl. The interior was modern and white with dark accents. We had two separate bedrooms with queen beds, a bathroom, and a large living space with a good-sized kitchen. Definitely one of the nicer places we've stayed so far, even with the expensive parking and internet access.

After a little research on what there is to do in the capitol city, we decided to go walk around in the botanical gardens, then maybe do a little shopping in the bohemian district and eat dinner at Mac's Brewhouse, which makes the beer the guys had been enjoying each night at dinner. Of course, we got lost on our way to the garden. Really, the roads are a ridiculous labyrinth - more difficult and dangerous to navigate than Japan! But the gardens were pretty and we enjoyed walking around after so much sitting. I was looking forward to seeing the large tulip patches we'd seen advertised. But apparently it was already too late in the season. LAME! However, we did see some cool trees and nice roses.

I love these curly trees!

By the time we were finished tramping through the park we had worked up quite an appetite. So we decided to skip the shopping and go straight to the brew house. It looked like a cool place, but unfortunately there was a large party there that had taken over the entire restaurant part of the brewery. So we made a reservation for the following night and stopped by a local grocery store so we could cook ourselves dinner instead. It was the best grocery store I've ever been to. SO MUCH fresh, healthy produce and food products, as well as a giant deli section with all kinds of cheeses. It's going to be really hard to go back to Japan and be limited by what the commissary has to offer. =^(

Dinner was delicious! Lisa and I made some beef stir fry and brown rice. Also, the movie Julie and Julia was on TV which helped us all get into the mood for cooking and eating. Now we're doing laundry - a necessity since we tried to pack as lightly as possible.

I think we've had our least exciting day today - but there were still enjoyable points. Definitely looking forward to tomorrow, though. I will finally complete my pilgrimage to WETA Workshops where they made The Lord of the Rings!!!!