We arrived Wellington around 9.00 pm and the adventurous lot as usual did not make any prior booking for accommodation preferring to trust the GPS to lead us to some motels that we have seen in some brochures. When we arrived, it was windy and cold and worst thing was, most of the motels were fully booked and some available ones, again, not within our budget.
After going round and round the city, tired after the long drive, hungry and cold, we decided to settle for a Bed & Breakfast. It was small but was just nice with 2 double decker beds for the 4 of us.
We opted to dine at the nearby restaurant instead of joining the other guests cooking in the common kitchen. We later settled for the night, my friend Phil and I, each of us having the lower deck and the other 2 on the upper deck. I slept like a baby but sometimes during the early morning, I was awakened and I noticed that Phil and Teri were sitting on the bed. There were both awake and whispering in earnest. I groggily asked what happened and they told me that some strange beings had come avisiting during the night. I was like..what? and jumped into their bed my sleep all gone!
Phil related that she was half asleep but in the dimly lit room with only the light coming from the toilet which we had left ajar, she saw and then felt a black shadow of a man coming to her bed. 'His" presence was so overpowering that she could even smell his hair oil. She tried to scream but could only manage a hoarse whisper and Teri who was sleeping on the upper deck was awakened, heard her struggling and her soft scream. Teri quickly got up and switched on the light and saw Phil shaking in shock and fright almost in tears.
There wasn't anyone else in the room except the 4 of us and the 2 of us were fast asleep! The door was locked and windows closed. Also we were on 5th or 6th floor. It could only mean one thing.. the room was spooked! Sleep didn't come to us after that and when morning came, we quickly packed, checked out and placed our luggage at the hotel lobby while we roamed the streets of Wellington before boarding the Islander Ferry in the late afternoon headed for Picton. That was certainly spooky and a hair raising experience.
My beautiful friend Phil..
Wellington
Streets of Wellington - can't remember the name but a great place to shop and window shop
Wellington trivia
Goodbye Wellington.. till we meet again someday (taken from ferry)
On board the Islander Ferry - beautiful scenery of Malborough Sounds.
Malborough Sounds
Source: Wikipedia "The Marlborough Sounds are an extensive network of sea-drowned valleys at the north end of the South Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination of land subsidence and rising sea level at the north of the South Island of New Zealand.
According to Māori mythology, the sounds are the prows of the sunken wakas of Aoraki and are connected to the Cook Strait at the north-east extreme. At this point, the North Island is at its closest to the South Island, and the inter-island road, rail, and passenger ferry service between Picton and Wellington travels through the sounds."
According to Māori mythology, the sounds are the prows of the sunken wakas of Aoraki and are connected to the Cook Strait at the north-east extreme. At this point, the North Island is at its closest to the South Island, and the inter-island road, rail, and passenger ferry service between Picton and Wellington travels through the sounds."
Hello Picton (South Island)
Loyddy's Farm near Sedon
I suck at shearing..
Above: up close with a seal
Looking back at our experience in Wellington though, I or rather we, wouldn't change a thing as that incident became an interesting topic of conversation later on.
Loyddy's Farm near Sedon
I suck at shearing..
Above: up close with a seal
.. to warm up those sensitive areas?..tee hee
We arrived Picton late in evening where we were met by Teri's brother who is a resident of NZ. We stayed with them in Blenhiem and also visited several other places. We stayed there for three days and on the 3rd day, we boarded the bus from Blenhiem to Christchurch airport and arrived there in the evening. We later bid adieu to this beautiful country, bringing with us lots of fond memories.
Until then, hope to return again someday....
Until then, hope to return again someday....
All our bags are packed, we're ready to go..
'cos we are leaving
(the gentleman 2nd from left is Teri's brother who resides in NZ and extreme left, his friend also residing there.)
