There is bit of a stressful start to the trip from Wellington to
Christchurch. I am booked on the 9am ferry, for the three hours crossing to
Picton where I am due to catch the 12.45 (Naked) bus to Christchurch. There is
a shuttle bus from Wellington Station to the ferry terminal and I arrive in
good time and join the assembled travellers wait for its arrival. Only it doesn’t
arrive, a man eventually arrives to tell us that that it has broken-down and
they are looking for a replacement, but not to worry, the ferry will not leave
without us. The minutes tick by and I get more and more anxious. My chilled out
travelling ways of Asia seem to have been replaced by the stress of the western
world. As we approach 9am and the ferry’s scheduled departure time more and
more people are giving up on the bus and jumping into taxis. I eventually give
in and join some others in a taxi. I feel better once I am on the ferry but it
leaves about an hour late and so for the whole crossing I am anxious that the
bus will go without me and I will be stuck in Picton for the night when I have
a bed booked in Christchurch. I needn’t have worried as the bus waited for the
ferry as otherwise it would have left empty and I finally arrive in
Christchurch at 6pm.
The crossing is pretty uneventful, but the views going into Picton
are worth braving the windy, miss-named Sundeck. And the highlight of the drive
down to Kaikoura is the bus driver spotting some seals sunbathing on the rocks
and stopping the bus to let us all hop off and see them.
