One frustrating aspect of our journey down through the islands is that time is against us. We got the full day in Wellington but I could happily have spent a few days there. It's a much less tidy town than Auckland, with plenty of grungy nooks and crannys. We ended up in the hills overlooking the bay where you get a real sense of age about the place. It felt like a fishing town that had just gotten bigger and bigger.
"The Beehive" is the seat of government in Wellington. Somebody on google maps gave it a one star review, complaining that the current government sucks.
We went to the Te Papa, the national museum and spent a few very interesting hours rambling around looking at colossal squid and learning the history of New Zealand. Then it was time for the ferry and the driver to Nelson, our first stop on the south island.
The ferry was about as exciting as ferries tend to get, but the drive was a bit of an epic. When there wasn't cop cars flying up the road to some bar fight or another we were taking hairpin turns at ridiculous angles down mountainsides. Much coffee was consumed because we've gotten used to being asleep by 10.30, and by the time we got to Nelson myself and Cathy were nervous wrecks. Nelson was a lovely town. We only had time for laundry and Internet duties, but the place had a lovely Saturday morning vibe around and would have been nice to explore a bit more but alas, the road called once more.
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