Today had all the ingredients for a total disaster; but did it happen? Read on.
We were up at 05.30 this morning and were able to shower shave etc in the comfort of our own motel room – pure luxury. For one of us it was a rather restless night as last night’s little aftershock was somewhat unsettling. Someone actually went to bed almost fully clothed, just in case a night time evacuation was required. As it was, the alarm went at 05.30 and the roof was still over our heads, so we had to get up and get ready. We were clever enough to bring some cereal, tea etc. with us from the campervan, so it was breakfast in our room this morning, then straight into the shower. By 06.15 we were ready to roll, just a final check that we had packed everything and then it was time to lug the very heavy bags down to the ground floor, probably waking up the other guests as the wheels rattled over the tiles on the outside veranda.
We were originally going to catch a train from Christchurch to Picton, where we were scheduled to catch the 1.15 ferry to Wellington in the North Island. Because of the earthquake, the train service has been replaced with a coach service, which was a little irritating as we were looking forward to enjoying the coastal scenery from the comfort of the train. Earlier in the week, we had an email from the local travel agents saying that we were booked on a coach leaving from just across the road from where we were lodging, instead of going on the train. We were confused as to whether we were still going on the ‘train’ coach or a completely different one. It turns out that the agent had cancelled the train tickets and booked us on an independent intercity coach. All we had was a booking reference and no paperwork, so it might be interesting when we get to the coach. We were told that the coach would be at the corner of Bealey Ave and Columbus for 07.00 departure. We had just arrived at that point when a coach did a u turn around the central reservation and pulled up about 100 metres up the road. The destination on the coach was Picton – our destination. Had we not seen the coach arrive we could have been waiting in the wrong place and ultimately missed it. We walked up the road and sure enough it was our coach. There was the obligatory person with a clipboard, which then poses the problem as to whether your name is on the list! With a tricky surname like ours, it usually takes a couple of scans of the paperwork and the odd sharp draw of breath as much as to say, can’t find you on the list. No such problem here, we were on the list and on the coach!
As usual, we were waiting for a couple of passengers, but we still left just after 07.00. Dave was our driver to Picton and it was immediately obvious that he had been to the same Italian school of driving as the guy who took us to Akararoa some weeks ago. We made a couple of stops to pick up other passengers, then once we cleared town, Dave switched on the hyperdrive and we were soon in orbit. The total journey time to Picton was five and a half hours at Dave’s warp speed and that was allowing for a pee break at Cheviot, a tea break at Kaikoura and kicking off some of the passengers at Blenheim. We were most surprised that there were not more takers to use the toilets at Cheviot as Dave’s driving was pretty appalling. He must have dipped into his briefcase god knows how many times to change his glasses, then he read something on his clipboard about every 15 mins. Perhaps it was his schedule of where he should be at any moment in time, but he would stretch across the dashboard of the coach whilst we were going round sharp bends. There was some funny smells coming from the seat next to me!!
Eventually we arrived at Picton almost bang on time and still in one piece. The next challenge was about to begin, as we had no voucher for the ferry booking, just a reference number. When I gave it to the check in guy his response was “that’s a really old reference, when the hell did you make that booking”. Two mouse clicks later and out popped two boarding passes. I think the check in chap was even more surprised than we were. Straight over to check the bags in and then it was upstairs to wait for boarding; 10 minutes later we were boarding and sailing dead on time at 1.10pm. One thing I forgot to mention was that just after leaving Christchurch it started to rain and by the time we arrived at Kaikoura it was chucking it down. The chances of seeing anything of Queen Charlotte’s Sound as the ship sails out were looking pretty slim. However, by the time we reached Blenheim the sun was breaking through the clouds, just as it had done on previous occasions and by the time we reached Picton it was blazing sunshine and clear blue skies. Perfect for a sail up the sound and it was just that. The camera was working overtime as we cruised up the sound and out to sea, ready to cross Cook Straight.
Leaving South Island
The journey across to North Island was very smooth, despite the fact that it was fairly windy. Three and a half hours after leaving Picton and we were in Wellington – capital of New Zealand.
After disembarking, we collected the bags and headed off to the Avis desk. This was to be the next challenge. We were booked to pick up the car tomorrow from the city office, but we changed the date and place as the motel we booked was some way out of town and it was much more convenient to pick up the car from the ferry. Bingo, the Avis guy had our booking and a car was available. Only problem was that the chap in front had a problem with his car and was returning it for a replacement. My heart dropped when the Avis guy gave him our car. I thinks his heart dropped when he realised we were next in line. He offered us an automatic Focus, which we took as it had a larger boot than the Toyota and was almost brand new.
With our usual degree of navigational success we miraculously found the campsite and settled into our room. We have decided that where possible we would continue to use the same campsites as we used for the campervan, as they have motel apartments that are generally well appointed and have the same shared kitchen and BBQ areas. The main difference is that we have our own bathroom and toilet.
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