2000 Biking New Zealand

Day 15, 22 December 2000, Friday
Havelock – Picton – Wellington; 36.5km @ 13kph and 5km, Downtown Backpackers, $45

This morning we cycled the 36.5-very-pretty km from Havelock to Picton, managed to change our tickets from a later ferry to an earlier, and managed to upgrade free of charge from the Interislander to the Lynx because one of the ferries had developed mechanical problems and been cancelled for the week. Putting quite a demand on the still-running ferries.

We were on the road by 6.50am and had turned off SH6 onto the scenic route to Picton soon after. What a lovely ride – although we were pushing a little harder than I like in order to make the 10.30am ferry.

A quiet narrow road. Climbing for 4km or so soon after Havelock with great views back of the little town in the early morning light. Then dropping gently for several km back to edge of the Keneperu Sound, along which we cycled happily for some time. Inland a little to tiny Linkwater. But soon back on the coast to drop into and climb out of one pretty bay – clear waters, boats anchored and reflected, appealing homes – after another. Then another longish climb and drop and over one more small hill to see Picton and the ferry there below.

There was no problem changing times – ensuring, much to our relief, a less hectic time in Wellington – and I even managed to read email from M&D and send a brief line home saying we’re fine.

We crossed Cook Strait comfortably ensconced in The Lookout Bar in the bow of the ship after carefully wending our way through the Queen Charlotte Sound and the Tory Channel – both so enclosed and encircled by wooded hills it looked as though we were sailing on a lake. Then a not-too-rough crossing to windy Wellington, New Zealand’s capital. 330 000 people live here, many on land reclaimed since 1852. It has been New Zealand’s capital since 1865. Interesting fact: All males had the vote from 1879 (including the Maori); and women had the vote from the late-1800s – making New Zealand one of first places in world, apart from the Pitcairn islands and Wyoming, to grant women this right.

Immediately we were of course aware of a huge increase in traffic and bustle, Wellington being the biggest city we have encountered to date. We cycled from the ferry terminal to the train station to find out about getting a suburban train out of the city tomorrow rather than tackling the hills, highways and traffic that lie between the east coast and the west. Having decided on an early train to Paraparaumu some way up the west coast we decided also to change our accommodation from the Rosemere in town to the Downtown Backpackers directly opposite the station – ideal for a quick getaway on what promises to be a long day.

The Downtown is an enormous place housed in what used to be a large and posh hotel. We have a small room on the 3rd floor and a shared bathroom just along the passage. I sent a lengthy email home (the first in ages), we showered and then walked into town to meet Doug and Jean (Mom and Jean were at school together) at the top of the cable way in the botanical gardens there. En route we visited the famous Beehive building – the executive office building and part of the parliamentary complex. So-called because of its shape (not necessarily the activity within?). It was designed by British architect Sir Basil Spence and built between 1969-1980. According to Lonely Planet: “Expensive plans to extend the Old Parliamentary Building and move the Beehive were recently quashed after a public outcry in a country that doesn’t like spending money on its politicians.” Good on yer, New Zealanders! Just across the road is one of the largest wooden buildings in the world. Despite our keeping an eye open for it, we missed it as it does not look like a wooden building. (Doug and Jean pointed it out to us later when they brought us home from dinner and a walk.)

Then through the city business centre, via an ATM machine and a photography shop, to the cable car up one of the very steep hills on which the city is constructed. Service began in 1902, the cable car carrying ½ million passengers that year; by 1912 it was carrying 1 million people per annum.

At the top we picnicked with Doug and Jean in a chilly wind on a knoll overlooking the city. Keeping the conversational ball rolling in our tired state was relatively hard work, but they are good people who later took us walking round the yacht basin / harbour. Doug knows Wellington particularly well as he drove a taxi here for a year while trying to decide what new business to get into after they gave up their small supermarket (choosing in the end sheepskin products). They told us that 1-in-4 New Zealanders own a boat; that they do not spend money on their houses in the same way as South Africans; that the homeless all have a place to go (this in response to seeing a homeless couple, complete with supermarket trolley, encamped on a bench overlooking the harbour). Like many others in New Zealand they exhibited a slight frustration with the legislation that treats Pakeha and the Maori differently.