More Walking

Well, last night was not too bad. I only heard one of my roommates come in, so I must have been sleeping hard core when the other came in.

Alison and I got up early for our trek to the ferry terminal. When we got out, a biker almost ran me over. We decided to walk by the wharf to see if it would save any time. We walked past the train station to an isolated are where it was fenced off, along the motorway (a freeway/highway). This one building was shooting out water from the side (like a fire hose) across the sidewalk and part of the motorway. We didn't want to run through it or walk all the way back, so we decided to run around it. Of course there were about a million cars going through at that time, so we had to wait several minutes and book it around the spraying water. Several guys at that building stopped working to watch us dash across the motorway.

We walked to the terminal, and asked the guy if we could get the tranzscenic and ferry tickets there. He said we had to go all the way back to the train station to get the tickets together. So we went all the way back and stood in line. The man said we actually had to stand in a different line to get the tickets, but of course it was closed (the sign showed us that it should be open, but why would it be correct for us?) so we had to wait. So we decided to get a muffin while we waited. We ordered a lemon and cream cheese muffin. We thought that was just the flavor name, but they actually injected the butterlike cream cheese inside the muffin. So we will not order anything that says cream cheese. While I was eating, a pigeon kept coming closer and closer to me. He was very persistent and I thought he was going to attack me, so I kept jumping when he ran towards me to scare him away. Well, there was a group of kids on the floor laughing and making fun of me.

The window finally opened. We rushed over there just after some guy. He asked a lot of questions and we had to wait a long time for him. The line just kept getting longer and longer. Finally, he left and we got our tickets. We asked about transporting bags from the ferry to the train station, but she told us we had to ask the ferry. I guess she was pretty annoyed at questions by that point. So we left.

We then researched hostels and narrowed it down to 3. We went to our room, and our keys didn't work again! So I brought the keys down to the reception and she did something to our keys so we could use them. I ventured to use the elevator and a girl with towels was in the elevator, and there was no room for me. She was writing something down and I asked if I could get in. She just ignored me and then left the elevator. So I went in and on the next floor, they cleaning guy with all those towels and things wanted to get in. I moved so he could fit, but he decided not to go in. So then I got to our floor, but the doors only opened part way. So I had to squeeze through the doors to get out of the elevator. We then figured out the hostel we wanted in Christchurch and paid for it.

Then we went to the Maritime Museum and stayed there for a couple hours. It was okay. The first level was long and weird. I guess they were celebrating their 10 years of being opened. The second floor was about a ferry disaster (like the one we are going on). We seem to do this a lot. On our train ride, we heard about the worst disaster and how lahar hit the train and many people died. Very comforting. The third floor was about people and their lives. That was pretty interesting.

Then we walked a bit by the wharf and sat down for a while. Then we came back to the hostel to rest. We are both exhausted and worn out. We have done everything in Wellington that we can really do. I discovered I sat in bird poop at some point. My pants look kind of nasty.

So we packed our stuff (no easy task). I managed to have 2 big bags and one backpack. Don't know how I managed that. The problem is, it is I think 3 miles (probably a little less) to the train station. I don't know how I will manage my luggage all that way. We are thinking we will go a ways and then get a taxi along the way.

Well, so long Wellington...