Sunday, October 2, 2016

The Ferry to Wallington

It was a nice and drizzly morning yesterday when we gathered to have a quick bite to eat before we headed to Picton to catch the ferry to Wellington. We left at 8 am and the roads were foggy and quiet with little traffic at first.  We rode along a gorge with twisty roads and beautiful views and came across many single lane bridges and farmland.



About midway through we wanted to take a break, we saw a sign for a cafe and followed it to a nice place concealed from the main road. We didn't want to stay long since we had already booked our ferry and needed to be there ahead of time.



About 60 km from Picton the GPS took us on a merry go round until it put us on the right path. a fuel stop later and we were in Picton looking for the vehicle check in terminal, since there were two companies running ferries we rode around until we found the right one about an hour before the final check in time.



We met a couple of bikers while waiting , the ferry would go through some scenic views before it hit open water and that only lasted for about an hour. During our voyage there was a practice emergency drill for the crew and those who wanted to participate. Ali was excited to participate and after the drill he asked to visit the bridge and meet the captain which he did.



We got off the ferry on time and headed to our hotel where we rested and met later for dinner at Malaysian restaurant across the street from the hotel. We found out last night that the embassador was staying at the same hotel and that the embassy was under renovation and was walking distance from the hotel.



This morning was a lazy sunday morning, it was raining with many places closed we had breakfast at a sister restaurant to the one in Christchurch. Afterwards we took a small walk while I returned to the Hotel Ali and Husain continued along the docks and around town. Ali wanted a Kathmandu store and I needed to finish up some work.



In the Afternoon we visited the Wellington Museum which gace a glimpse of Wellington and it's maritime history.




Later in the evening we visited the new location of the Kuwait embassy with the ambassador of the state of Kuwait  in New Zealand his excellency Ahmad Al-Wehaib and his staff. They later took us to a very nice dinner at a local restaurant where we exchanged memories and stories since his excellency was also the ambassador to Ethiopia when we were on our Africa adventure in 2011.