A brief stop at another NZ fur seal colony spot. The 2 seals in the third photo looked like they were fighting (though maybe they were actually playing)!
An example of the effects of a mudslide; we were driving on a new section of road put in to get around the old, damaged road (there were actually quite of few of these we passed along the way).
Some of the views along the drive to Picton. It was basically a travel day: a straight drive to Picton and then the ferry ride (with nothing new to see). I'm really amazed at how quickly the landscape can change in NZ. Those are vineyards (of the Marlborough region) we drove by in the 5th and 6th photos, and the bridge in the 2nd photo is the the old bridge that was used for the route we traveled on. The last photo is of just one of many cow herds in NZ - raising cows in NZ has become more popular than raising sheep now since they are more profitable.
Finally arriving in Picton marked the end of my voyage in the South Island, amazingly all driven by Richie (we even hugged it out hahaha)! I had really enjoyed the South Island, and was kind of sad to be leaving it behind, because I had a feeling travelling back through the North Island just wouldn't be as fun as it had been in the South.
A view of the Picton harbour while we waited for the ferry from Wellington to arrive.
After getting into Wellington, I had to walk for 45 minutes (almost 4 km) with my big heavy bag on from the bus terminal all the way to the YHA Wellington! It's the stupidest thing ever in my opinion - they offer pick-up service from hostels to the ferry port, but from the ferry port, they only offer a bus that takes you to the main bus terminal (it's a short couple of minutes that is nowhere worth the fare), and then you're left trying to figure out Wellington's messed up bus system (as confusing as Auckland's) to get to your destination, which I could just not figure out. I wasn't the only one - Louise and Kristina were also staying at the YHA Wellington, and when I ran into them in the kitchen later on, they told me they also had to walk from the bus terminal to the hostel. It doesn't make sense that they don't offer any bus drop-off service!
There wasn't much to do in Wellington - I had already explored the city the last time I was here (and just re-explored it again - it's actually a good thing I had previously explored the city since I didn't have a map, because I ended up figuring out my way to the hostel from memory) and since everyone went their own way after the ferry, there was no one from the bus I could hang out with (me and the Swedish girls coincidentally ended up just watching the Lord of the Rings movie in the hostel's TV room - though I only caught the last few minutes of it so I had no clue what was going on, and yet I too found it way too long hahaha). The ferry trip was also where me and Vanessa and Janelle finally parted ways after being on the same bus for the entire South Island.
It's a good thing the supermarket was located just across the street, because I was in no mood to do any more walking. I cooked up some broccoli and pasta and seared up some ground beef, grabbed some frozen yogurt for dessert, did my laundry (I found the laundry facilities at the YHA Wellington to be the best - honestly the best YHA I stayed at in NZ), and then grabbed another good night's sleep. No private washroom this time though. I did have a pretty interesting conversation with a German girl I met in my room who was in bed when I got to the hostel, and basically stayed there the whole night hahaha (she said she didn't like NZ). Like I said, pretty much just a travel day.
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