Laura's Side Trip to Akaroa

We were pooped from a full month on the road. But the siren-song of New Zealand called for me to see still more.

So on our last full day in Christchurch, I couldn't help but squeeze in one more side trip. I left Dan slaving away in the kitchen (he had offered to make a mole sauce for our hosts Richard and Colleen), and set out for the charming town of Akaroa.

The drive took me onto Banks Peninsula, an area settled by the Maori nearly 1000 years ago, and settled again by the French in the 1840s.

Today Akaroa is a weekend retreat for Christchurchers, and a quiet destination for low-key tourists. It has an active artist community, quaint shops, and is the jumping-off point for harbor tours to see little blue penguins and rare Hector's dolphins.

I shopped for souvenirs and ambled along the main street with the other tourists, mostly older Europeans, just taking in the good salt air and feeling truly relaxed for the first time in a week.

On the way home I stopped off to sample some delicious artisanal cheese at Barry's Bay cheese factory. And with fresh local gouda in hand, I headed back to Christchurch to celebrate our last evening in New Zealand.

Taking The Ferry Back to the South Island

Just two words about what it's like taking the ferry down to the South Island, versus our prior ride up to the North Island:

It's worse.

It started off nearly the same. Sure, our ship, the Arahura, was quite a bit smaller than the floating city of a ferry that we took on our northbound crossing. But after all, it was a Saturday morning, typically a lighter day for interisland travel. We got in line a bit early, drove up on to the boat, and then parked and locked our car. And just like last time, we found the forward lounge and grabbed a couple of seats where we could have a great view.


However, this is the important part: It's a lot harder on your stomach taking the ferry south than it is taking it north. When you board the northbound ferry (at Picton in the South Island), you will spend the first hour or so of the trip navigating the beautiful Queen Charlotte Sound. The boat hardly feels like it's moving, and everybody's enjoying the amazing view and taking pictures like mad up on the sundeck. You feel like you're riding on glass.

Of course, once you get out onto the open sea the ride gets noticeably rougher. But when you're coming from the South Island, you get this nice, smooth acclimation period of sailing through the sound. You can get used to things.

The problem is this: when you take the southbound ferry out of Wellington, you head immediately out into the open--and sometimes very rough--sea. There's no gentle, gradual acclimation period (with beautiful scenery, no less) at all.

Let's just say we were two queasy landlubbers who were really glad we had taken along our Dramamine.

And don't expect to get any sympathy from a New Zealander about this, either. You'll likely hear their own story about some fearsome ferry trip that they took where the seas were so rough that passengers got thrown to the floor by the heaving ship. It'll make you feel like a complete wimp for whining about your slightly rough ferry ride.



This is our little car, near the front of the line, waiting for the ferry:


More views from the boat:



While on board, we learned about a new drink, Frank's Ginger Beer. It was damn good.


Entering the Queen Charlotte Sound in the South Island:




Passing some speeding locals once we got back on the South Island. There must have been a show of old Model T's going on nearby, because we passed at least half a dozen of cars just like these on our way down the road.

Warkworth and Tawharanui, and How Sidetrips Are Richly Rewarded in New Zealand

We had a little bit of extra time before we were due to arrive at our hosts' home up in the Whangarei area, so on our way up north we arbitrarily took a right turn off State Route #1 and headed towards Warkworth, NZ.

I don't know what it is about New Zealand, but we always were richly rewarded whenever we took an arbitrary side trip like this. And after stopping into the local information center in the adorable town of Warkworth, I walked out with a map and a suggestion, from one of the extremely helpful staffers there, to drive out to Tawharanui Park, just a half hour away.

But on the way, we were sidetracked yet again--after all, who could possibly resist a sign like this?


This was a sign leading us to the Omaha Beach Winery, a nearly brand-new winery here which was offering tastings of several of their prize wines.


We met and talked with the owner and his wife, bought a couple of bottles of their wine, and then sat out in the back and enjoyed the view over a couple of bottles of blueberry juice, a local specialty.


We were busy taking pictures when a local couple approached us, offered to take our picture, and then struck up a friendly conversation. When he found out we were on our way to the Tawharanui Park, he nodded his approval and told us, "It's a nice drive. Gets a bit curvy at the end though."

That turned out to be a particularly monumental example of Kiwi understatement.

Yet again, the photos won't do justice to the actual experience, but this was the skinniest, dustiest, steepest and curviest gravel road we had yet driven on. And it featured locals screaming down the road in both directions, seemingly oblivious to the possibility that another car might be coming around any bend in the road.


But we were richly rewarded after this drive with amazing views...


...and a sparsely populated beach. We shared the area with just a few scuba divers and a family enjoying an overnight camping excursion.





If you ever have the good fortune of visiting New Zealand, never turn down the chance to take a side trip.

Why We Completely Skipped Auckland

When we were planning, or more accurately said, not planning, our New Zealand trip, I think both of us assumed we'd spend at least a couple of days in the country's biggest city, Auckland.

After all, we were heading all the way up to Whangarei and a nearby town called Ngunguru. Auckland would be right on the way.

But after we puttered around the South Island for a couple of weeks, we started to realize that if we could reallocate those two days intended for Auckland, we would have more time to see the beautiful Whangarei area, as well as extra time to see other amazing sights elsewhere in the country.

So we started asking many of the Kiwis we met for their opinions: Should we totally skip Auckland?

Everyone, everyone, said yes. Skip it. It's just another city.

Se we skipped Auckland. And we left New Zealand having no idea what we missed there. But we have yet another place to put on the list to visit when we inevitably go back.

View from the Auckland airport:


Auckland cityscape:


Blowing right through town on the way to beautiful Whangarei:

Learning a Thing or Two in Wellington

As I stepped outdoors for the first time in Wellington, New Zealand, I was knocked sideways by a stiff 35 mile per hour wind.

"Wow, it's pretty windy out, isn't it?" I said, demonstrating a clear grasp of the staggeringly obvious.

"What wind?" our friend Steven said back to me, not missing a beat.

It's true, a 35 mph wind barely deserves mention here. It doesn't even qualify as a gentle breeze. And so, we became intimately familiar with one of Wellington's most salient characteristics. Chicago seems calm by comparison.

All kidding aside, Wellington felt to us like a young, creative and extremely entrepreneurial city. It's artistic, trendy, and bustling, but the people here still have the same friendly charm we had come to know and love in the much less populated South Island.

Once we had set our tires on dry land after arriving on Interislander ferry, we drove into town to meet up with our host, Steven. We had arranged to meet up with him and several of his colleagues for drinks at his startup company, Altspace, and that evening we enjoyed the company and conversation of a mix of Kiwis, Americans and Germans, all of whom were either starting up companies or engaged in some sort of entrepreneurial venture.

After dinner at Restaurant 88, a spectacular Vietnamese Restaurant Street on Tory Street, we headed to bed with plans to walk the city the next day. Here are some of the scenes we saw:


A bikram yoga studio in the heart of town:


Some kids practicing a hip-hop dance routine down by the wharf. The sun is so powerful down here that even the trendy young people will place a high premium on being in the shade:


The Wellington War Memorial, at the intersection of Buckle Street and Tory Street, only a twenty minute walk from the wharf:


A trendy pub where we caught a little tennis from the Australian Open:


Enjoying a Tiger Beer and some tennis:


Wellington's wharf area is both a working wharf as well as a tourist destination.


There were even people doing some snorkeling right in the harbor:


The New Zealand Stock Exchange is down here too, just a block away from the wharf. We were pleased to see a few stocks actually trading up today--who knows, maybe Dan could find work here!


Finally, one of the top tourist destinations in Wellington is Te Papa, the National Museum of New Zealand. The museum is right next to the wharf and inside are extensive exhibits of Maori culture. You could easily spend a couple of days at this impressive museum.

How to Take the New Zealand Interisland Ferry

If you want to get from one island to another in New Zealand you have two options: flying, or the interisland ferry.

Of course, most of the tourists who come all the way to New Zealand have already been on at least one 12-hour flight (if not two), so why not take the ferry and sample one of the most interesting modes of travel available in this country? It's an experience all to itself.

In this post, we'll walk you through our experiences on the Interislander, one of the two major ferry lines that take passengers between the two key islands of New Zealand.

We picked up the northbound ferry in Picton, NZ, on the South Island. It's funny, we had assumed it would be complicated finding out where to be and how everything works, but the entire process was laughably easy. We just drove down the hill into town and it became painfully obvious where we were supposed to be.

You could see the cars and campers driving off of one of the ferries that had already arrived:


We had reserved passage on the 12:15 ferry about two or three days beforehand. You can get your tickets over the internet or by phone, and it's quite easy. One-way passage for the both of us, with a compact-sized car, cost NZ$245 (about US$140). The entire voyage takes about three hours.

Once you arrive at the terminal, note which of the two ferries you've booked. We inadvertently got in the line for the Bluebridge line, but it was no matter: the woman in the ticket booth cheerily told us where we needed to be.

You wait in a line on land for a bit while your ferry unloads its passengers from the other island, and then it's time to go. After a few uneasy jokes about Gilligan's Island and "a three hour tour," we followed the cars in front of us up a steep ramp right onto the boat.


After being repeatedly told to be sure our car was in in gear or in park, we locked up and walked up onto the passenger decks for the voyage. Here's one of the ferry employees checking our car before we went upstairs:


Note that both driving tourists and walking tourists can take the ferry. The cost is quite a bit cheaper as a pedestrian without a car, ranging from only NZ$50 to NZ$70 (about US$30 to US$40).

But heck, you don't even have to be a human to take the ferry--there were sheep traveling with us too. I'm sure they got a great group rate.


Once we left our car below, the fun really began. This ship is almost like a city on the water. It has cafes, a restaurant, a movie theater, a game room, a bar, and plenty of other of places to explore.

I took the liberty of asking an employee in one of the cafes where he thought was the best place to be on the ship. He told me that if I wanted the best seats in the house, head up to deck seven, the forward lounge, and grab one of the seats near the front windows. He was right: we had an amazing view of the entire journey.

If there are two or more of you in your party, leave one person sitting down in the forward lounge and take turns up on the sun deck. You can enjoy striking views as you exit the protective sound of the South Island and enter the Cook Strait.




Here's the boundary of the the Cook Strait. From here on, you'll be travelling on open water. Be sure to take your Dramamine...


I mentioned the sun deck, up on Deck 10. When we departed from the South Island, it was crawling with sun worshippers.


But as we approached Wellington, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped. One by one, everybody started to come inside. I made the mistake of venturing up there late in our voyage as we were getting close to Wellington, and the 100+mph wind almost blew me right off the ship. It was impossible to walk around up there.

This was also about the same time when the ship started to heave up and down a bit. It wasn't terrible, but we were glad we both took a little something for motion sickness (we split a Dramamine pill between us).

It wouldn't be long before Wellington loomed in the forward lounge windows.


Soon enough, we'd head down to the car deck, get back in our car, and drive off onto dry land once again.


The Interislander Ferry
Phone: 0800 802 802 (New Zealand only)
Phone (from overseas): 64 4 498 3302
Email: info@interislander.co.nz

The Bluebridge Cook Strait Ferry
Phone: 0800 844 844 (New Zealand only)
Phone (from overseas): 64 4 471 6188
Email: bookings@bluebridge.co.nz