Fare'Well'ington

I am glad to be out of Wellington. Not that it was a bad city by any stretch of the imagination, but being there an extra day meant 1 less day in places with much more stunning scenery. 

So I awoke at 545am for a 7am shuttle bus to the ferry.  Met 3 people my age from Wisconsin which was a bit strange since only 2 of them were traveling together. Had a nice conversation with them about my recent trip to their state, farming, beer, and cheese.  So the ferry was supposed to depart at 825am. It left at 9. Was supposed to arrive at 1125am but I left the ship at 130pm. Not that I was all that upset about leaving the ship so late. I met this awesome couple from California in their early-mid 40's who have traveled much more than me. It was refreshing to have a conversation with Americans who have the same philosophy on travel as I do. The dude was even wearing the exact same pair of pants and same color I was wearing. It was also nice to be able to swap travel stories and have him be in awe of some of the things I have done. But as a couple they have traveled overseas more than 25 times.  Even got to talk sports with him. Really nice guy.  Could have talked that guy for days.  Anyway, given the 130pm arrival time, it goes without saying I didn't catch my 1215pm bus to my next destination. I instead had to catch a bus with a different agency at 6pm and got into Nelson at 830pm, about 6hrs after I was originally supposed to arrive. Not that I was planning on doing anything here, but it would have been nice to have a bit more time to decompress before my 10hr bus journey down to Franz Josef glacier tomorrow.

These bus rides are all starting to look the same. Winding roads through lush green hills, vineyards, and lakes. It feels like Groundhog Day. Every bus trip I take feels like I am going to the same place, and for the most part when you arrive in the town, they all have their city centres and look exactly the same. There are some national parks around Nelson that have gorgeous beaches, hikes, and kayaking, but not for me on this trip.  I also feel like you can do just about the same adrenaline adventures in every town as well. It's like if you don't see something in one town, you can just do it in the next town you visit. That just seems strange to me. I mean, if you go to Essex/Dundalk and don't see the 2 golden waste treatment plants, you can't expect to see them in Towson. That activity is Essex specific. Maybe a better analogy would be if there were skydiving operations in Essex, Dundalk, Towson, and Perry Hall. I mean, you are going to see the exact same thing if you went skydiving in each of those places. Same thing here. I don't know, maybe I am just being super critical because I am tired. I just feel like if you can do the exact same things no matter where you go, and essentially see the exact same scenery, cities and towns become less unique.

Everyone says the South Island is more gorgeous than the North Island. My upcoming travels will take me to glaciers, fjords, beaches, forests, mountains, and lakes. I am really looking forward to my activities once I reach my destinations. I just hope that the scenery getting to these places is more eye catchingly unique because it is easy to run out of things to do on a 10hr bus ride.