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| The lovely town of Picton, where the Interislander sets sail. |
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| Harbour view from the deck. |
Inter-Island Travels
I assumed that Kiwi travel between the North and South
Islands would be as common as Americans going from one state to another, no
biggie. My trip over via the Interislander, however, has me thinking otherwise.
The sheer expense of the trip ($176 for Hank and I to cross, one-way at that)
is enough to prohibit much transposition. Also, everyone keeps asking me if I’m
going on holiday, which must be the common reason South Islanders go to the
North Island, and vice versa. There’s also the fact that the S’s haven’t seen
much of the North though they’ve been dual citizens for 20+ years. I didn’t
think much of it when they told me, but now it does seem a bit odd given their
outgoing and adventurous natures. They’re always taking people around the
South; perhaps I surmised they simply preferred the South, which is the general
rule among all Kiwis. I too will be likely working in the North, but playing in
the South. Fingers crossed!
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| Hank on the boat. |
There was a lady coming through the line of cars ready to
board asking about bio-hazard potentials, and I instinctively looked down at my
bag of apples hoping I could keep them. Instead she was looking
for hiking boots and camping/fishing gear that may have come in contact with
South Island rivers and lakes, and could therefore be carrying harmful
bio-organisms that they attempt to keep out of the North Island. I thought that
was pretty neat. When she asked if I was visiting, I told her I was immigrating
and going to the North for a job interview. After congratulating me, she wished
me luck. It still astounds me how nice people are here.
The Interislander looks like a friggin’ cruise ship,
complete with shops, lounges, cafes, and a live band! Apparently, covering ‘Mad
World’ is incredibly common for New Zealand bands because this band did it, as
well as the band at the brewery Friday night. Both renditions were very
similar, merging the calm sadness of the Gary Jules version with the more poppy
electric sound of the Tears for Fears version. They also played the Punjabi rap
song and it was actually really good! At least part of my exorbitant ticket
went towards entertainment.
UPDATE! Ok, I just got the skinny on this situation by
chatting with a local from Christchurch who I’ll refer to as M. M also bought
me two glasses of wine, which I drank without considering the fact I’d have to
drive off the damn boat and find my way North for a 2 hour drive. Definitely
not my smartest move. Anyway, besides travel to Wellington, the North Island
Port, taking the Interislander is almost unheard of except if the person
traveling has to bring their car (like me). Flights from Christchurch to
Auckland are only $59; so it may not be that there isn’t much travel, it’s just
not by sea, which now makes a lot of sense! The travel is typically restricted
to Holidays or business needs and involves flying and renting a car rather than
taking the Interislander. He also informed me that this is the roughest and
most expensive straight to cross in the world, though thankfully it’s not too rough
today.
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| This was the Tuscan Dream pizza I hovered at a Mediterranean restaurant north of Wellington to kill my ill-advised buzz. Yum! |
Oh and get this, while chatting with a Pennsylvanian park
ranger on Holiday, I discovered that her parents own a house in Cape Fucking
Vincent?!?! Unbelievable! One thing I always realize while traveling is just
how small this world really is! [For those of you who don’t know, I went to
Cape Vincent Elementary school!]
I Heart Hank Nummer Zwei
I literally can’t lock myself out of this car. At first I
found it annoying that the doors automatically unlocked when shut if I had
locked them while the doors were open. Now I realize the genius of that plan,
and I’m grateful! Especially given the fact that I only have one key,
unsurprising for a ’97 car that’s had more than it’s share of owners.
Pet Eels?
The S’s took me to this cool little place in Nelson called the Jester House where they advertised their tame eels; eels that would slither up on the
rocks for food one could buy in the shop. We must have gone at a bad time of
day for the eels because they were nowhere to be find, but I thought the idea
fairly comical and certainly unique. At least until I was driving through
Marlborough on my way to Picton and passed a placed that advertised about its
celebrity, ‘Eddy the Eel.’ So apparently pet Eels are a thing here, seems a bit
creepy to me but I suppose it’s no different than owning a snake or fish.
Hot Pies
This place is obsessed with hot pies, they’re mostly
like chicken potpies of meaty varieties like mince (aka hamburger, but usually
from multiple animals), steak, beef and cheese, Bacon and egg, chicken and
vegetable, etc., but they’re all basically them same components of meat,
starchy filling and buttery crust. Needless to say, I may opt out of this
societal norm. It reminds me of America’s obsession with frozen burritos, but
somehow they seem healthier.
Some other random food facts include:
- There’s no turkey lunchmeat, it’s all ham and salamis of
varying quality. This is chicken sometimes, but it’s really expensive.
- Muesli is huge here, as it is in Europe. As an American is
just seems weird to eat oats without cooking them first; but this is likely
contributed to my newfound regularity, which is a welcomed novelty!
- Skim milk is called Trim milk. I think it sounds more elegant.
Fanny Fact
Here, a Fanny is a vagina. So I was cautioned against saying
anything about wearing a fanny pack, because in NZ that’s akin to wearing some
sort of sanitary item in the nether regions. Also, females should avoid getting
confused at receiving a ‘pat on the fanny.’ I’m really glad M decided to share
this information with me!
World Series? Really?!
Apparently the one thing Kiwi’s find hilarious about the US
is that they call their annual Baseball tournament the World Series. M boldly asked,
“How many fucking countries compete? One I reckon! Wouldn’t you need at least 2
to be considered a World Series?!” then he laughed heartily. Once I thought
about it I started laughing too, he was totally right!
Fun Phrases:
- My shout/No need to shout back/Next shout is mine. = I’ll
buy this round/There’s no expectation for one to reciprocate the round/I’ll buy
the next round. (All in the context of drinking)
- Sweet As! = Cool, Great, Sure; really just a typical reply
to say ‘good,’ buy they use it very versatile ways.
- Good on you/him/her. = Good for you/him/her, and can also
mean congratulations, etc.
Random Update
That roadkill was a Possum! We spell ours Opossum but they
spell it Possum, and they’re typically red in color. They do have our variety
as well, but they call them silver backs. My roadkill intuition is exquisite!
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| Possum, not Opossum |
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