Arriving in Picton it was clear to me that I should move on. It was merely a port town, with a few hostels set up for anyone who missed the last bus of ferry and needed somewhere to sleep. The Lonely Planet Guide Book says "the ferry to Wellington takes you through some of New Zealand's most beautiful scenery, weaving between hundreds of little islands and sand banks before you reach the open sea." Well this may be true, but New Zealand has a habit of turning what is usually beautiful into the ordinary. Everything in NZ is stunning. There was barely one moment where I could look out to the horizon and not be mesmerised. So during the ferry crossing, I tried to look interested, but the scenery just looked normal to me now. So I slept.
It was a relatively fast crossing, only three or four hours. And the ferry drops you only a few kilometers away from Wellington city centre. I had chatted away to a couple on the boat who were travelling kiwis and they offered me a lift to town. The guy had just quit his job and fixed himself a campervan and was touring his home country, doing the odd bit of electrician work here and there. They dropping me in town and I walked to the first hostel and headed out immediately to explore. This was my first experience of the north island. In fact, I hadn't even read up on the north island at all. All I knew was that I had two weeks to get to Auckland. So I spent most of that late afternoon in the i-site working out where was good to go and what I could fit in.
The next day I had a bit of me time. Walking down by the harbour and waterfront, window shopping and finally headed off to the Te Papa Museum when it started raining, it was free after all. The highlight of the visit was a preserved gargantuan squid. It was horrendously big... eyes the size of footballs. Amazing to see. Looked like a Damien Hurst piece, suspended in formaldehyde. I liked Wellington, but not enough to stay there for any length of time. Everyone there was either passing through or desperately trying to get a job. I booked myself on a morning bus to Taupo and moved hostels to be closer to the station (the other one was around 2k away! Not walking that at 7am with a bag on my back). I wasted the night away playing pool and drinking cheap beer before getting a relatively early night.
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