Day Five: Hanmer Springs to Picton, and so long South Island

So we made it to Hanmer Springs with enough time to soak in the mineral pools for a few hours. The air outside was really cold, though so the process of switching pools was a little painful. That night it snowed! We didn't have a tone of time the next day to hike around (we wanted to catch the 2:30 InterIsland Ferry), so we opted for a quick drive into the mountains for some pictures.


On the way to Picton to catch the ferry we made a quick stop on the coast. Beautiful, but really cold...and windy!

We barely made it to Picton to catch the ferry...but as it turns out there was a huge storm in the ocean and the boat was delayed. So we made it with time to spare! (Well, at least with enough time to turn in the yellow car and get some pictures of the harbor.)

We met this guy on the boat who said the front had the best view, so we settled in for the three hour treck through the sounds and open ocean.

We hit open waters after about an hour and a half into the gentle ride and all of a sudden there was 15-20 foot swells. Waves were crashing up to the top of the boat! It was like a roller coaster. I was all smiles with my face pressed against the window relishing the feeling my stomach dropping. Kenny was having fun, too, for a while, but then he got super sick and had to relocate downstairs. After a while i joined him. Our friend from earlier was there, too, also sick. This little girl kept barfing and in those moments when she could catch her breath she just screamed. I can't remember the last time I threw up, but listening to her, I remembered how awful it was. The irony is that the cruise movie was Evan Almighty. People were flooding out of the theatre covering their mouths. It all made for a pretty eventful trip. Eventually we did make it to Wellington safely, where we picked up a new rental car (red this time) and found a cool little backpacker hotel in the heart of the capital.

So everything closes pretty early on weekdays, so most nights we hung out in our room and watched "net ball" and tried to figure out the rules. No luck. Anyway, we stayed at a backpacker hotel in Wellington, so no TV in our room. However, there was great tall window and one wall was painted black...so we had some fun with the camera! (for a few hours!) Here's a few of the many many shots:

The street light outside the window made for some great silhouettes.