South island ~ Nelson

Nelson - It looked like a small size of Wellington : )

Transport: Nakedbus (Blenheim - Nelson)


Finally I bought the 15 trips bus pass from Nakedbus on average of NZD15 per trip (also known as “Naked Passport”), it's easy to use and irregardless where you go, as long as no same routes are repeated. It definitely a much more cheaper way to travel New Zealand.

Website: http://nakedbus.com/nz/passport/

Accommodation: Accents on the Park (BBH)

Accents on the Park backpacker hostel

I stayed here for only two days as not much attraction in Central Nelson. It took me about 20 minutes walk from Nakedbus bus stop to the hostel. By wandering around the central city, I can understand why it is hailed as one of New Zealand’s most “liveable” cities. Plenty of local and international tourists & young backpackers in the central city.




打开房门时凌乱拥挤的房间真的吓了我一跳。衣服，零食，还有一些瓶瓶罐罐的东西满地都是。五个来自德国的女生都是在Auckland做Au-pair的，一起来这里旅行。睡在我下铺的那位还在自己的床上晒起一堆衣服和内衣裤，太豪迈了。重点是她晚上没有“收衣”就直接睡在一堆衣服下面，好强!


What I have done:
(a) Nelson Market located at Montgomery Sq [Sat 8am-1pm]

A guy is playing piano at a corner of the market : )

Many interesting art crafts & local creations can be found here. I bought my scarf at only NZD10. It was much more bigger than I thought! I also enjoy my breakfast here at a reasonable price and I love the lively atmosphere here : )

(b) Jens Hansen (320, Trafalgar Sq)
The “Lord of the Ring” jeweller.

(c)  Christ Church Cathedral [admission free]
Opening hour: Nov-Mar :8am-7pm, Apr-Oct :8am-5pm

The church just located beside my hostel. It is quite easy to spot in the city.

(d) Botanical Reserve (Milton St)

Follow the road sign and climb up the hill, you will see the place proclaimed it the “Centre of New Zealand”. The view up there was beautiful and I have a rest here for almost 4 hours.

 There were some group of elderly, young students, families, singles came here for a while, then left.

Only me and a couple there for few hours (are they actually waiting me to go first?! Maybe I have spoilt their romance there :P)

Bluebridge Cook Strait Ferry

Bluebridge Cook Strait Ferry

It’s time to go south island! There are only two ferries across the cook strait, one is Interislander (more expensive), another is Bluebridge.

Website: https://www.interislander.co.nz/
               https://www.bluebridge.co.nz/

Transport:

(a) Wellington to Picton : Ferry fare: NZD51 one way

My ferry departed on 8.00am,Sunday at Wellington. Each passenger can carry only one hand luggage plus one handbag on board. The check-in luggage allowance permits up to a maximum of two bags (up to 30kg per bag) per passenger. I checked in my trolley luggage and one small backpack.

Remember to write down your name on the baggage tag provided by the service counter on every luggage to check in.

I walked for 35 minutes from Base Wellington to Bluebridge check-in office with all my luggage and backpack. It was not that tough as I imagined. At first I planned to catch a bus on 7.00am (I thought it will make my life easier), but not even one bus passed by the bus stop after 30 minutes! I started to feel nervous! The lucky thing was I came out from the hostel 20 minutes earlier, that’s why I had enough time to walk.

It is always an advantage to reach your destination “earlier” than “on time” because you will never know what will happen on the road!

船上有个蛮大的平台让乘客可以欣赏沿途景色。

风比想象中的还更吓人。长头发的女生不想一秒变贞子的话最好绑起头发呀。

虽然冷风让我直流鼻水，可是那壮丽的山脉景色就是让人不想移开视线啦！不管了，三个小时的旅程我就是要坐在外面吹冷风！好期待南岛 ：）


(b) Picton to Blenheim : Intercity bus (http://www.intercity.co.nz/)

After I picked up my luggage, there is a free bus waiting outside to take all passengers to the nearest bus station. When I arrived, Intercity bus already there. This was the first time I travelled with Intercity. It departed on time at 1.35pm heading to Blenheim.



I was thinking to have my Christmas in Wellington, but due to the work exchange for accommodation in Blenheim, ended up I went to south island much earlier !

North island ~ Wellington

Wellington : Windy Welly (nickname of this cultural capital :))

Transport: Nakedbus (Napier - Wellington)

Napier started with the light drizzle in the morning to a downpour in the evening. Due to the bad weather, my bus was late for 35 minutes. The 6.5 hours journey to Wellington from Napier almost drove me crazy and i felt so dizzy & uncomfortable in the bus due to motion sickness.

It's near to night 10pm when i arrived at Wellington. Nakedbus dropped all of the passengers in front of McDonald. The freaking cold weather and strong wind made me felt shivery and nauseous. My handphone shown no signal and i couldn't use it to find the way to hostel! I felt so helpless that time by standing alone at the corner of the road with all the heavy luggage with me. Luckily my "angel" approached me. A tall guy from Germany has the map downloaded in his ipad. He accompanied me taking the bus and carrying my heavy luggage all the way to the hostel!

Unfortunately i cannot recalled his name and didn't met him anymore for the rest of days in Wellington :(

Place to stay: Base Wellington

Again, this is the second time i stayed at Base hostel. Not because of the quality of this hostel (and shouldn't be), just due to the only empty dorm bed i can afford in Wellington. Good backpacker hostels such as YHA or BBH are fully booked during the period.

Due to the previous experience i had in Taupo, this time i paid more for girls' dorm. But the staff simply put me into a mixed dorm by explaining that there is no empty bed in any girls' dorm. They claimed that it is the problem of Nakedsleep.com at the time of my booking, not theirs. I was so tired that day and i couldn't wait to have a bed, a blanket and a hot bath immediately! Therefore, without argument anymore, ended up i paid more to stay in a 4-bed mixed dorm again.



当短短一天内发生那么多事后，好运总会来到的！无意间居然发现有位一直想见面却见不到的朋友现在也在这里 :))  啊，人生，总会有好事发生的 :)

What i have done here:

(a) Te Papa museum [admission free]

A must-see attraction in Wellington.
Website: www.tepapa.govt.nz [Fri-Wed: 10am-6pm, Thu: to 9pm)

不知道这是什么，可是我觉得它长得好像千于千寻里面那个吃人兽耶

(b) Musuem of Wellington City & Sea [admission free]
Website: www.musuemofwellington.co.nz [10am-5pm]

(c) Parliament House [free] Highly recommended!
Website: www.parliament.nz [Mon-Fri: 10am-4pm,Sat: 10am-3pm,Sun: 11am-3pm)

I took the free one-hour tour to walk around the Parliament House and i really like it. For me, it's definitely inside one of the "must-do" lists. The tour departed from ground floor foyer.

General Assembly Library for members of Parliament

(d) Wellington Botanic Gardens, Cable Car Museum [free]
It's quite convenient with the cable-car ride, i can assess to the cable car museum and botanic gardens. Only NZD3.50 one way for the ride.

Cable car museum

Follow the little pink flower!

 

My friend and i walked down to the city from the garden, it took us about 45 minutes and definitely worth the visit!

(e) Mt Victoria lookout [free]

 It's not that difficult to climb up here, about 25 minutes will do.

(f) Exploring the city



Art Gallery [Free admission]

We went to the night market at Cuba Street, and it was not many stalls as we thought. We followed the map from i-site and tried our best to explore each attraction one by one. It's fun to read the map and sometimes the locals will approach us to offer their help :)

Wellington is a place where my hairs get tangled easily as a result of the strong wind (how come it is blowing from different direction?!!),