Picton

I Continue From Here 

Backpacking NZ : Day 15 (17-Dec-2016) 

Crossing Islands

My bus was scheduled to leave Nelson at around 9:45 AM. I went to the post office and dropped some of the post cards I had finished writing on. 

I reached the bus stop early so, I decided to checkout the Sunday market in Nelson that was happening around the corner. It was a beautiful warm day. Farmers were selling fresh fruits and vegetables. Some artists had displayed their art for sale. Among those stalls, I found this old lady artist who specialised in painting on silk. She explained to me the process she followed. I bought two very colourful and vibrant magnets. Apparently, she too has traveled in India. Her spiritual Guru lives in India. Appears to me that many from NZ have been traveling to India in search of a spiritual experience. 

Picton is a small town by the sea and the harbour is very neat and picturesque. As I had few hours before my cruise to Wellington, I took a walk around the town. I dropped more postcards in the post box. Even though I just spent like an hour or two there, I simply loved the place. I wished there was more time.

The Interislander cruise to Wellington is huge. It has about 8 levels. Lower levels are used to park the cars and trucks and the upper levels are for passengers. There were couple of restaurants and cafés as well. The 3.5 hr long journey was rather dull as the view weren’t that great until we approached Wellington. 

Route - Nelson - Picton -Wellington

At the harbour, free buses took us to the train station. From here, I took a local bus to reach YHA. YHA at Wellington is six storied and has about two spacious common kitchens. Its one of the best I had been to. 

I had originally planed to take a backpacker bus like Kiwi or Stray in the North Island but most of these rides start from Auckland. So, I did not find any going north. I also contemplated on driving but it seemed to be costly with car rent, fuel price, GPS/Internet Data and parking fee. Moreover it is boring to drive alone. I finally planned the rest of the trip with intercity bus. I planned to have at least two days in each town. That would give me some time to go around the place and relax a bit. That planning took me long time but it was important to figure that out. I had all of next day to explore Wellington.

Continued Here