Ferry Madness

In attempts to maximize our time spent exploring New Zealand and minimize time spent traveling, we opted for the 7:30 am Wellington ferry crossing.

Driving onto the ferry, just as the sun was rising for the day.

The Interislander is a huge ferry ship that transports passenger vehicles as well as large freighters across the Cook Straight from the North to South island. All in all the journey takes 3.5 hours and travels 92 km. The ferry is quite elaborate with all sorts of activities (including but not limited to a full size movie theatre and a child's play gym) and cafes to conjure even more money than the initial passenger and vehicle booking fees.

Not to shabby eh?

While I have been told the trip is beautiful and am sure the overpriced pastries are delicious, I was more interested in catching up on some much needed sleep, as this ferry was leaving at 7:30 am. Luckily for us, we were all able to commandeer our own private couches located in the coffee lounge and enjoy a 3 hour long nap.

But not until we had taken ample photos from the boat deck of course...

After our nap and arrival in Picton on the South island, we began our journey to Christchurch. As luck would have it, the weather was absolutely beautiful (albeit cold) and the drive was lovely and filled with beautiful scenery, all of which was unable to be caught on film due to the very narrow roads in New Zealand, but I'm sure you can imagine the grandeur right?

Doesn't even come close to doing the views justice, but we tried...

Following our drive, and unsuccessful attempts to make purchases at a local 'Funk & Junk' shop (I for one was disappointed the shop was not open), we arrived in Christchurch to Brooke's friend of a friends Farrah's place. Upon arrival we were informed it was time to head out and due to our limited wardrobes, pieced together interesting outfits and hit the town.

Christchurch, like Wellington, is a beautiful city. On the eastern coast of the Southern island, it is a decent sized town with Universities and sights galor. Farrah took us to Godly Head, a lookout over Christchurch that was originally used as a lookout and armory to protect the harbor against invaders.

Shot taken on the drive up to Godly Head.

At Godly Head we enjoyed a short 30 minute walk to the coastal lookout, where you could see the entire harbor and ocean for miles.

Overlooking the ocean.

Apparently I have a problem with authority, but come on, the view was so much better on the roof.

Following our trek, the remainder of the day was spent exploring Christchurch, its markets, gardens and shops. Overall, Christchurch was a great city. We ended up spending an extra day here and would love to go back, we'll see how the remainder of the trip goes eh? Tomorrow, Mt. Cook...