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Another early day as we wanted to get to Wellington to see some of its sights before hopping on the ferry to Picton & the South Island. We did see Catherine for a brief moment as she was letting Sponge out, but everyone was still in bed and by the time we packed everything up and got the bikes loaded at 8:30 AM, still no signs of life and we didn’t want to disturb anyone’s Saturday sleep-in. I sent a note to Dylan thanking him and Catherine for the great stay, and we set off for Wellington.
The trip was mostly on a bike path, but as one cyclist we talked to along the way noted, there was a big climb between us and Wellington. It still took us (well, me) 2 1/2+ hours to cover the 17 miles to Wellington. Great bike network in the downtown with bike paths and a shared path all along the dockside. We did grab some coffee at a little shop on the wharf, and continued our tour. We stumbled onto the Wellington Pasifika Festival in the Waitangi Park. It was a celebration of various Pacific Islanders headed off by a New Zealand group that one a Bronze medal at the International Barbershop competition in Tampa FL. There were Islanders from all over the South Pacific in native dress. With our short time frame, we did watch for a while but then moved on.
The ferry ride was very comfortable and smooth and Dana spent most of the ride on the upper deck while I tried to complete a blog post or two in the lounge. She did come in long enough to share a bottle of wine and I went out long enough for a toast in the fresh air. Dana stayed out in the sun and the spray and I went back to writing.
After disembarking in Picton, we headed for Alexander’s Holiday Park where we booked a spot that was an old railroad car which had been remodeled into a guest cabin. Cozy and interesting — “Second Class” painted on the doorways, a rope net overhead rack (quite deteriorated), and a pretty well-equipped kitchen on the back end.
After unloading the bikes and getting cleaned up, we headed back into town to check out a group that had been playing Prince’s “Purple Rain” at a bar we passed on the way to the campground. We ended up staying there to eat, and Dana made a lot of fast friends dancing and socializing through the evening. Beer & wine, too, of course.
After the band stopped around 10, we checked out the local Irish bar on the recommendation of two of the women we met that night. They had left and the entertainment was not up to the standards of the first place, so we walked around town a bit and then headed back to our little railroad car berth.
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