Marlborough Sounds, NZ

“One of the great things about travel is that you find out how many good, kind people there are.”

Edith Wharton

Wellington

There are some weeks where I am busy sight-seeing, hiking, driving, researching, and socializing for many days in a row. Other days, I relax on my own, not leaving the house and binge Netflix. Often times I feel guilty for those days, telling myself I should be exploring or being active. But I have to remind myself that this is not just a short vacation, but a long term trip where it’s okay to have days off to recuperate both physically and mentally. Wellington was one of those times.

I spent several days in the city, relaxing to my heart’s content. My most exerting activity was joining a walking tour of the city. Wellington, known as Windy Wellington, is the capital of New Zealand on the southernmost tip of the North Island. I actually lucked out on the lack of wind, as it was hot and sunny when I was out.

The walking tour, while an informative way to see the city, was not that interesting to me, to be honest. I preferred enjoying lunch by the waterfront, sipping coffee, and people watching over listening to the city’s history.

Speaking of, I am obsessed with coffee in New Zealand. The cappuccinos are delightful, with the perfect flavor of coffee, topped off with frothy milk covered in chocolate powder, brewed with love. The coffees I order always come out beautifully presented, and I feel myself come alive with every sip. I like it so much that I drink it one spoonful at a time to make it last.

In the afternoon, I enjoyed taking pictures of Wellington from the top of Mount Victoria, a prominent hill in the city. The capital really is nice, with houses on hills, surrounded by the forest and sea. The population of the greater metropolitan area is about 400,000 people, so it is considerably smaller than the American cities I am used to, with the Denver metropolitan area where I grew up having a population of over 2.5 million.

Cook Strait

There are two ferry operators to get passengers and their cars from the North Island to the South; Bluebridge and Interislander. I booked with Bluebridge, a few days before my departure, which was quite expensive. If you plan on transporting a car between the two islands of New Zealand, plan ahead to save money!

The trip from the North to the South Island is about three and a half hours long. Surprisingly, with such a large boat, I still felt a bit seasick in the middle of the journey on the Cook Strait, battling the rough waves of the sea. A friend had advised that I eat food when I feel the nausea coming on, as it forces your body to focus on something else, like digestion. I bought myself a large bag of popcorn to continuously munch on, and it surprisingly helped.

The last half hour or so involves navigation through the Marlborough Sounds, upon approach to the South Island. The marvelous views reminded me of ferry rides on the Puget Sound, in the Pacific Northwest of America. Jutting hilly land masses with mountains on the horizon envelop you from all directions. You see small homes on the hills, some so remote that they are only accessible by boat.

I spoke with a couple on the ferry that were excited for a mailboat cruise the next day, where they would be joining the mail that is being delivered to people who live in these distant areas. It is an up close and personal look of the Sound, as well as a peek into the lifestyles of this stunning region.

Picton

The port town where the ferry docks on the South Island is called Picton. Here I stayed at the Juggler’s Rest, a cozy and creative hostel that has received many hospitality awards over the years. There were gardens with vegetables and salad greens that you could use when cooking, cozy rooms and furniture, and peaceful outdoor seating. That evening, I met a German family, a husband, wife, and their teenage daughter, who were on a sabbatical traveling around New Zealand. Well into the night we engaged in lively conversation, eventually joined by other travelers and the owner around the dining table.

The conversation had a profound impact on me. It started with the German family sharing that their travels were brought on by the sad news of cancer in their family. They had decided that as much as they enjoyed their jobs, it was not how they wanted to spend the indeterminate amount of time they had for the future. It broke my heart to hear that, but it also reinforced one of my reasons for traveling; you cannot be sure of the time you will have in the future, but you can trust in the time you have now. We discussed the difficulties of breaking out of the school-work-family cycle, and I was happy to hear that there were other young people around the table with similar stories to my own. This German family had previously traveled when their other children were just toddlers, which was inspiring to me. Of course, not everywhere in the world is great for traveling with children, but New Zealand is pretty ideal for it.

This led us to the topic of safety and trust. One prominent reason that deters people from traveling is the dangers of other countries. The problem is the news always perpetrate the bad things that happen around the world, and as such, you associate those bad events as something that happens all the time in a particular country. It really takes a toll on your mental health, constantly hearing this. It would be nice if the news ended on a happy note, to give us hope for the future.

The owner of this hostel opened up her home to strangers, and has been running this hostel for 14 years now, meeting thousands of people over the years. She told us that in this entire time, she has only had to kick people out three times. She believes that at the end of the day, the only person you can truly trust is yourself, and thus, your gut instinct. If your gut tells you another person is trustworthy, they you have to believe they are. Yes, sometimes it does not work out, but that shouldn’t stop you from taking risks every now and then. Her mindset is that by being a good person and being kind to others, you can make a change in the world as an individual. Spreading love and ideas is the way to combat hate and discrimination in the world. The same concept applies for helping the environment. She recited a story about an Indian man who planted a tree every day near his home for over 30 years. Now, there is a large forest, full of wildlife, where he grew up.

I have had to step out of my comfort zone on my travels by trusting in strangers. It is unhealthy to live in the fear of others. If I help a stranger out, give someone a ride, or share my dinner, I would hope that one day someone would help me out if I need it. I’ve trusted my gut and it has led me to spend time with some amazing people in this country so far, for which I am extremely grateful. Some of my best memories are from the people I meet and conversations I have with them. The combination of amazing sights and bonding with strangers is what makes me feel like I made the right decision to leave my life behind to travel, despite missing those I love from home.

Marlborough Wine

The Marlborough region is known for its winemaking industry, exporting wine all over the world. I could barely contain my excitement to indulge in my poison of choice all day as I embarked on a bus with 15 other tourists to visit four wineries.

We began the trip, rigid and sober, speaking only to the people we came with, and progressed to a red-faced jolly group of buddies, laughing at each other’s stories.

I believe by the end of the fourth vineyard, I had tasted 18 different wines, and forgotten my purse behind at least once, before a kind stranger handed it to me as I was leaving.

The best part was our driver stopped at a chocolate factory at the end so we could taste some samples. Quite the smart move, as chocolate tastes even more delicious when you are buzzed, and also makes everyone agreeable to buying a box of chocolates.

I planned on tucking in early that evening, but around 10 at night, a woman named Courtney joined our 3-person room. Right off the bat, she seemed like a fun person to be around, and she told us that she wanted to go on a short walk to the forest nearby because there were glowworms there. Naturally, with my obsession of glowworms, I offered to drive us to the start of the walk, and the three of us from the hostel room began our walk at night.

There were nowhere near as many glowworms as in Waitomo, but we still saw a few hundred over the couple hours we were there. I even practiced my night photography to capture these little worms. It was fun to spontaneously march off into the night to check out a forest!

Queen Charlotte Track

The next day, Courtney and I embarked on a short hike to explore the beginning of the Queen Charlotte Track, one of New Zealand’s great walks.

All of the huts were booked out to do the entire multi-day track, but I still wanted to experience part of it, as it looked breathtaking in pictures. The drive there was beautiful as it was, and we took lots of pictures at lookout points along the way.

The walk took us about five hours round-trip, and we enjoyed getting to know each other on the journey. Courtney, a retired diplomat from the United States, has spent much of her life traveling and living in different places; she has been to over 60 countries!

I’m happy to have been in the company of such inspiring women on this trip, and Courtney told me about times in her career where she took bold steps and how it worked out for her. She also offered me travel advice for some places I plan on visiting in the upcoming year and I really enjoyed spending the day with her. The walk rewarded us with gorgeous views, and we even saw a wild goat with a newborn kid along the path!

My time in the Picton area was a wonderful start to my trip around the South Island. I am very excited to see more of this gorgeous alpine landscape and meet more people in hostels!

-Anastasia