October 11th, I had to test the efficiency of New Zealand's transportation systems. From Christchurch to Picton by bus, then from Picton to Wellington by ferry, and from Wellington to Auckland by plane. I had bought the tickets in advance, but if someone was delayed by just an hour, the whole plan would fall apart... I didn't want that to happen. The morning turned out to be wonderful. I woke up at 6:00, had breakfast, and was at the bus stop by 6:45, where I still had to go through a simple registration for the flight and exchange my electronic ticket for a regular one. When I entered the office, I saw two women, one of whom was a pure-blooded Maori. I handed her the papers, and she suddenly asked me in perfect Russian, 'Shevchenko?' I didn't even have time to react, and she added, 'Russian?' I was completely amazed 🙂. Then she continued in English, saying that her husband is Russian 🙂. At that moment, the second woman in the office woke up and exclaimed, 'YOU HAVE A RUSSIAN HUSBAND O_O?!' In general, the morning turned out to be positive for everyone 🙂.

001
The morning was sunny and the New Zealand green mountains in the low rising sun were even more irresistible!

002

003

004

005

006

007

008

009

010

011

012

013

014

015

016

017

018
And here I messed up and the panorama didn’t stitch together, losing the most beautiful left part with the mountains 🙁

019

020

021

022 - saline lakes or maybe reservoirs

023

024

025 - drainage pipes sticking out of the mountain to prevent landslides during rain; the slope is covered with a concrete crust

026 - self-sustaining vineyards

027

028

029

030 - sunny Picton is even more beautiful

031 - on the ferry roof... they don't know yet that they'll be blown away in 15 minutes 🙂

032 - competing ferry

033 - colorful water

034 - Marlboro Sounds fjords

035

036

037 - Waikawa Bay

038

039 - some shameless deciduous trees haven't turned green yet

040

041 - a seal swam by to say goodbye

042 - some kind of mollusk farm

043 - the same farm in profile

044

045

046

047 - Moioio Island

048

049 - random stuff floating

050 - men fishing

051

052 - exit to Cook Strait, clear view of the ocean water and calm bay waters

053

054

055

056

057

058
Arrived in Wellington right on schedule, transportation in New Zealand is absolutely accurate. In ferry terminal there was another embarrassment during a conversation with a police officer, who suspected that I did not understand where to go, and the bus to the airport has not yet arrived 🙂 He asked me how he could help me, I explained that I need to go to the airport and then there was such a dialog:

  • What time your plane departs?
  • Ninety thirty - I replied, thinking I could speak fluently for the 19:30 numbers.
  • Ninety О_О - the policeman was surprised Then he smilingly escorted me to the miracle box that changes money for tickets and told me to “Wait bus here”. Once I got to the airport I had no problem taking my boarding pass, went through light security and settled down by the window to watch the airplanes

059 - National colors of New Zealand: black and silver

060

061

062
This white one’s will fly me to Auckland.

063