Wellington - Picton

After our visit to Mount Taranaki, we had a slightly longer drive ahead of us the next day, down to the south coast of the North Island and into the capital of New Zealand, Wellington. Upon arrival, like all other tourists, we had to deal with a moderate parking problem.

Unfortunately, at this point, the capital is not at all visitor-friendly and our business background simply did not allow parking fees of at least 4 NZD per hour, as the effort and the return are unfortunately not in tolerable balance. and we wanted to spend a few hours in the city.

Eventually, we had to reluctantly buy a ticket for an hour. But then we finally got the reassuring tip at the i-Site. Past Te Papa, the Museum of New Zealand, following the road to the left and then along the coast, there are actually coveted parking spaces (coupon parking), where at least 120 minutes are free. If there is no parking space available here, you can buy a day ticket for 8.50 NZD at the New World store near the Te Papa Museum. This is a hint for all the desperate parking seekers as well =D. After we had a free parking space, we visited the really beautiful and highly recommended museum. There is really a lot to see here, starting with the animal world, volcanic and earthquake backgrounds, to Maori history - everything about New Zealand.

Afterwards, we climbed Mount Victoria, a beautiful viewpoint over the entire city, by car and got an overview.

The city tour continued with a walk through the botanical gardens to the endpoint of the famous Cable Car.

A highly recommended campground in Wellington is the Elsdon Camp in Porirua. With only 20 kilometers away from the city, it offers a small kitchen, hot showers, and free WiFi for 10 NZD per person, of course all inclusive ;-)

On February 15th, we then had to take the ferry from the North Island to the South Island. During our stay in South America, we had already booked the ferry with Bluebridge. An early booking not only guarantees the desired departure time, but also lower fares.

The crossing was not very spectacular after a 1-hour delay, so after arriving in Picton, we simply made our way to our pre-selected campsite. Once there, we could admire the first beach of the South Island, including the sunset.

The next day, we made a short stop in Picton before embarking on the Queen Charlotte Drive, with a detour and overnight stay in Kenepuru Sound. The Marlborough Sounds are a really beautiful piece of earth, but we expected a little more from the Queen Charlotte Drive.