Day 8 - Our journey across the wide wide sea

'The wide wide sea' may sound exaggerated to some, but I think it fits perfectly. After all, we spent a whole 3.5 hours on our way from Wellington (North Island) to Picton (South Island).

The 'little' boat departed at 9 a.m., making three trips a day loaded with people and vehicles between the islands. In the morning, we had a pretty gray sky, and it looked like rain was coming. When we left the bay at Wellington, it was clear that it would be a good day, even though the wind blew my glasses off my nose and almost blew the phone out of my hand in the following photo.

On board, there was nothing to see but water in all directions, so intellectual activities like watching series and playing mobile games were on the plan. The view suddenly improved when we reached the Marlborough Sounds of the South Island.

Very satisfying for our German hearts was the punctual arrival in Picton at 12:30 p.m. Here our journey through the South Island of New Zealand officially began.

Already at the first lookout platform, directly above the harbor, we were able to get a first impression of the beauty of the South Island.

The planned destination for today was Motueka, a small village west of Picton in Tasman Bay. The rest of the day consisted of a drive through the beautiful north of the South Island...

... shopping and dinner. The shopping turned out to be very ... well ... interesting.

Since we are in a wine region here, it was obvious to try a local wine. And here's a little tip for those who want to buy alcohol in New Zealand: everyone has to show their passport! I didn't have mine with me (for once) and had to walk back to the hostel to get my passport so that we could take the wine with us, even though Tobi had already shown hers. The problem was that I only remembered halfway through the walk that the passport was no longer in the car but in the room. Since Tobi has the only room key, I had to walk the path almost twice...

Even though I felt flattered to have to get my passport to buy alcohol, I'm afraid that as the boss (Tobi had enough time to get to know the lady), she just wanted to set an example. She probably knew very well that I am old enough.

So much for our (or rather my) little adventure here in Motueka, I'm going to have a drink now so that I don't have to think about this humiliation anymore. Running back and forth as a (barely) 29-year-old to get my passport so that we can get the wine. And that in a country where you can already drive a car at 16.

Crazy world...