What a day! We left this morning at about 7:30am, headed for Wellington to catch the InterIsland Ferry for our first visit to the South Island. The truck was packed with the seven of us, with our luggage on the roof rack, Nintendo’s and cameras charged. Despite the close quarters, the kids were remarkably great. The weather wasn’t the best, patchy rain and lots of wind but we made it to the ferry with time to spare, which meant sitting in the parked truck in line, waiting to load onto the ship. Nani and I had to use the facilities (which is simply called “the toilet” in NZ) so we got out and began the 100m walk to the bathrooms. About 4 steps away from our vehicle the spitting rain began to pour and the wind blowing it sideways, drenched my left side. Brrrrr!!!! At least the rain subsided a little for our return walk. We then rocked the truck, singing to Billy’s iTunes until we parked inside the ferry.
Inside the ship was kinda like a cruise ship, with lounges, a café, a bar and even a movie theater. The wind and waves made the ride Cooks Straight pretty rough! Thankfully we all took anti nausea medicine. The 4 younger kids watched Kungfu Panda 2 while Billy and I napped and Mikaylie read. Milford Sound was supposed to be beautiful, and it was but the nasty weather put a damper on the photo ops.
We exited the ferry after a 3 hour ride and began our drive to our first night’s stop in Kaikoura where we were had reservations to stay in a cottage on a farm.
The drive down was gorgeous and the clouds began to break. Rolling hills of golf course looking grass, dotted with fluffy sheep. Acres and acres and ACRES of vineyards, with wineries here and there. Snow covered mountains. THEN we reached the east coast. White waves crashing. Beautiful rock formations. And seals!!! Lots and lots of seals! Mikaylie and I were having fits because of all the photogenic scenes we were driving right by but the sun was quickly going down, we were pretty hungry and we had to find the farm stay. We did stop a couple of times and shot a few out of the window of the moving vehicle but we’re both eager to get more photos tomorrow.
We found the road leading to the farm where we’d stay but headed past to grab a quick bite to eat. We stopped at a little restaurant where we ate burgers and chips (fries) then popped next door to a dairy for ice cream. Now, though dark, we found the farm with no problems. However, there was problem. The gate was closed and adorned with a sign that read “CLOSED No admittance after 5pm”!!! Billy had spoken with the people when making arrangements and though they said they would be away, their staff would be there to receive us. No one came to the gate. Billy shouted “Hello!” Nothing. He was furious, to put it mildly, compounded by the fact that I was adamant he not enter the gate that was so clearly mark not to do so. “Security Systems”, “No Admittance”, etc. He then proceeded to honk the horn to no avail. Words were shouted, tears were shed, calls were made… nothing! The kids and I were NOT entering the forbidden gate. They were, in fact, given the choice: go in gate with Dad or wait with Mom at dairy while Dad goes in gate. There was an emphatic and unanimous “stay with Mom!” “But I already paid for it!” he kept saying. Seething, Billy drove us all back to town where we stopped at the first motel, which thankfully had a “VACANCY” sign lit and checked us in. Two rooms of course to accommodate us; Billy and the 2 boys in one and me and the girls in the other. The girls later told me the farm was scary and they were glad we weren’t staying there.
So here I am, lying in bed at this motel (oddly enough, a Comfort Inn!), recounting and recording the events, not quite yet ready to laugh about it. I’m thinking about how this is different and scarier than in the States for several reasons: First, NZ is NOT like the States in that there is not a Holiday Inn, Days Inn, La Quinta, Hilton or Hampton on every corner of most towns. Here there are B&Bs, baches or maybe a lodge with a few motels thrown in here and there. Not many places that you can just drive up late at night and find an open office, much less a ready room. Second, today started the kids’ 2 week term break. Not just our kids or our town’s schools’ break. The ENTIRE country’s schools are out!!! This means potentially, everyone is traveling on holiday today! PLUS, the RWC is still going on which has brought lots of additional tourists. Most places are booked solid!!! Finally, when I’m fighting with my husband and I have only one real friend here and I just wanna go home, home still doesn’t feel here. I honestly don’t know WHERE feels like home but it’s not here… not yet.
Anyway… as they say “no worries”. There’ll be no homicide or even divorce. Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful and we’re scheduled on a whale tour and we’ll take tons of pics and maybe even laugh about tonight, provided Billy hears from the farm people and they say we get our money back!
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