Wandering in Wellington – Discover New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand

(This is the eigth post in a series. Missed the first seven? Click here to see them all.) I’ve got a couple of hours before my boat departs. Clay and I exchange messages. His earlier boat has some choppy water so I head to the drugstore, just in case. I get an herbal seasick remedy, figuring that if I survived altitude sickness without drugs, I can do this, too. But, just in case I’m wrong, I get a more potent medication called Sea Legs. It makes me feel like a reverse Little Mermaid.

My hostel owner drives me to the boat. I check in and am told they’ve just discovered structural damage to the boarding walkway, most likely from the earthquake. Apparently they just found it, most likely because use, over time, made the damage worse. I’m not even sure why the check-in agent is telling me, but kiwis are very friendly, and it doesn’t sound like we’re going to crumble to our deaths, so I figure everything will be ok. I make my way to the waiting room. Eventually we board and this boat is huge. I find a quiet bunch of seats in the middle of the boat and take one. (I learn later that the middle of the boat moves the least in big waves, good to know.) Our departure time comes. Our departure time passes. More time goes by, and then one of those announcements I don’t want to hear happens. “We’re seeing some large swells thus the delay. We’re mapping out the best possible course to Wellington.” Gulp. My neighbors tell me if it’s really bad, the captain will just bring us back to Picton. Great.  ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).