Wellington, Dwellington and the family from Atlantis

Hostels. You can't avoid them on a long-term trip. Unless you have a lot of money. But somehow they are part of backpacking. They can be as different as the places you visit. Big, small, dirty, noisy, old, modern, clean, cozy or bare. In the last few months, we've had just about every variation. But we haven't felt as comfortable as we have at Dwellington in a long time.

Dwellington is not located directly in the city center, but rather in the harbor area. However, nothing is far away in this city, everything is actually within walking distance. For our first day, nature is on the agenda, we walk up to Mount Victoria. Of course, there are again locations from The Lord of the Rings here. We walk up the forest path and catch a very nice view of the city every now and then. In this forest, the four hobbits flee from the Nazgul and hide under a tree root.

We really like Wellington, we explore the city, the harbor, and go out to eat Thai food. Sebastian and Hasi also explore the Te Papa Museum (while Lisa takes a day off in bed).

Just a 20-minute drive away is a beautiful bird sanctuary that we visit in glorious sunshine. There are big and small, colorful and shimmering, singing and squawking birds. There are even kiwis here, but unfortunately they sleep during the day...

Feeling much too early, we already have to say goodbye to Wellington because the ferry to the South Island is booked. Unfortunately, New Zealand, especially during peak season, is not one of the countries where you can travel spontaneously. We were able to buy the tickets for the (extremely expensive) ferry just in time, as most seats were already sold out. It's a pity that you have to plan everything in advance here. We have to give up our spontaneous South American traveling here. So on December 30th, we board the ferry to Picton and leave the North Island of New Zealand. Since we could only secure seats for the evening trip, we only reach Picton late at night and want to continue our journey tomorrow morning.

Our hostel with the wonderful name 'Atlantis Backpackers' is run by a friendly and slightly crazy family. The name says it all: all the walls are adorned with mermaids, fish, and other ocean dwellers. However, we are a bit surprised when we are asked for our sleeping bags at check-in...no, we booked a dormitory and didn't bring any camping equipment. Apparently, unknowingly, we rented the indoor camping dormitory, a large room full of bunk beds, wardrobes, stuffed animals, and other mess, but equipped only with mattresses. However, for a small extra charge, we can still get some bed linen, which the hostel mom rummages out of one of the wardrobes. When we mention our stay in South America, she gets very enthusiastic, jumps up and down, and is all fired up for the mystical and ancient world of South America. A nice ending for today, good night, Atlantis.

Tomorrow we'll hitchhike to Nelson.