In need of some nature? Fancy a break from the beautiful city of Wellington and need a little quiet time in nature? Why not pop down to the South Island for a day or two?
This is what we, some of the staff from Nomads Wellington, did and we feel reborn! As myself and a friend both had two days off work, we decided to go to the South Island on the ferry and spend two days in Picton.
It was quite a stormy morning so we weren’t sure whether or not the ferry would “set sail”. High winds and waves made us even more afraid that mother nature wouldn’t allow us to go on this trip but to our great joy the Interislander ferry started boarding, so we were definitely going to Picton.
The staff welcomed us on board with a big smile and we knew it was going to be a good ride (good as in, high waves and hard winds :D). We were lucky enough to get window seats, so we had a great view of the North Island when we left Wellington. It’s a really interesting to see the North Island (and Wellington) become a small spot in the distance.
Once on the open ocean the waves started to become bigger and bigger and the spray went well over the top of the boat. Some of us really enjoyed that, others not so 😉 As soon as we arrived at the South Island the clouds made way for the sun and we were welcomed by the beauty the South Island has to offer.
Exploring Picton
After setting foot on land, after just 3.5 hours, we got into our ride to the hostel and dropped our luggage. We were on a mission, a mission to explore Picton. We braved high winds and rain and had the best fun! After stopping in a nice local cafe for some coffee’s, we did some grocery shopping and headed back to the hostel.
Since we were pretty soaked from the rain we decided to stay indoors for the rest of the day and warm up a bit. We went to bed early, after an unbelievably exciting game of monopoly, so we could take full advantage of the day to come.
After a good breakfast we set off on a 3.5 hour hike to ‘The Snout’. The sun was beaming down on our heads and caused the bald one of us (Rik) to get a nice sunburn on his head. The sights we got to see were breathtaking and we think the pictures speak for themselves. It was a nice walk with good height differences and views over the Queen Charlotte Sounds.
On returning to Picton we enjoyed a good lunch in the sunshine and ventured out to see what else we could do before our ferry left. Steph (self proclaimed mini-golf champion) wanted to prove her skills on the World renowned Picton mini golf course. Sadly enough it was closed and Steph still has to prove her skills. After this huge disappointment we gave up on our cultural adventures and set out to get a nice coffee, and beer, and just watch the time (and Picton) go by.
Interislander Premium Plus Lounge
Then it was time for us to check-in on the Interislander ferry. On check-in we were pleasantly surprised to find out that we got upgraded to the premium plus lounge, thanks for that. The service was just amazing and of really high quality. It is most definitely worth it’s money. Not only do you get free WiFi, luxury seats, free drinks, free meals and really friendly staff there are also magazines of all sort and kinds, a widescreen tv and it is really quiet. This is especially nice after you have used up a lot of your energy wandering on the South Island!
The return journey was in the dark, a completely different experience to sailing during the day, and went by on a lot more quiet waters than on our boat ride from North to South.
On arrival in Wellington it felt like we had been gone for about a week, in reality it was not even 48 hours. Completely recharged we are now standing behind the reception of Nomads Capital, ready to share our adventures with you and help you on your future endeavours…