Picton

The next stop on our cruise was Picton. The day was a little better but still cold. We went into town on the bus. It was free so we didn't have to pay. It was a little town, not too much there. These little towns don't have too much there, they kind of remind me of Canmore with people going in and buying stuff. We went into a couple of stores there and I found two T-shirts and a sweater. The sweater wasn't too heavy and it says New Zealand on the front. I tried to buy a T-shirt that says the name of the town or city from every stop on the cruise, so every stop, it would be easy for me to get around, so that was very good.

Picton

After that, we sat outside of a cafe to see if they had Wi-Fi because on the ship, you have to pay for Wi-Fi, and they only give you a certain amount of minutes a day. So we emailed our friends that we are meeting the next day in Akaroa. We never met her before. My friend and her became Facebook friends and they email all the time. We told her that we were coming, so they set up the meeting place. Before the start of the cruise, we weren't sure if I'd be able to meet her because it was a place that needed a tender. Then we found out that I could get on a tender so I'd be able to meet her after all.

After we emailed her, we went online and saw if we could go swimming with the dolphins in the morning. We thought our order went through, so we went back to the bus stop and went for a bus ride. We met a sweet lady who was a guide, and she was so nice and funny. She told us all about what she does and all about the town. They have buses like our buses here in Calgary, but they only have one accessible bus, and they have chairs, and we told her that I can walk up with help, and she said, "No, it'll be here in the next 15 minutes." And we said okay, because we only need to get back on the ship. So we talked a little more about the place, and then there was the bus for us to take us back to the ship.

Wellington

The next stop was Wellington, and we had nothing to do that day, so we thought we would go into town and look around. We got off the ship and it was raining out and cold. We asked how far the town was from the cruise ship on foot. The guy who was working there said, "You can get on a bus for $10 a person, and you'll be there in about 10 minutes. It's about a half-hour walk at least." My friend and I looked at each other and we said, "Let's walk." We didn't want to pay $10 a person for a 10 minute ride! The guy didn't agree with our decision to walk because it was raining out and they get large puddles of water. So we said we'd take our chances.

A sculpture that looks like M&Ms

It was a good walk. It wasn't as far as it seemed. We found a McDonald's, so we went in to get drinks, and we saw if we could get onto the Wi-Fi because I brought my iPad for the both of us to use on the cruise. But we couldn't get on the Wi-Fi at McDonald's, so we thought we would walk around and see where else we could get Wi-Fi. We walked for a bit in downtown Wellington, and it reminded me of London even though I've never been there. I saw some old movies that took place in London, and they had the roads there, and all the cars, and the buses had two levels, so it was really neat to see that. So we finally got to a Starbucks and we sat outside under the umbrella, and I Face-timed with my mom, my dad, and my two nieces, and that was fun to see them. I told them all about what I did so far. After that, we walked around a bit more, and took pictures, and then we walked to the ship, and I thought if the weather stayed like this, I would need another sweater because I only brought one, and it's not a heavy sweater.

Napier

The next three stops, my best friend and I walked around and saw the places. It was neat to go to another country and see how they live and see if they live like us, and they do. It's hard to find Wi-Fi, but we did and I emailed my family to keep them up-to-date, and let them know where we were and that we were okay, so that was good.

The next stop was Napier. The next day, there was a tender to take us to shore from the cruise ship and we didn't know if I'd be able to get on. I was able to get on the tender, so I made it to Napier.

The tender to get on land

The motorbike for 5 people

So we got a bus into town; it was a 10 minute ride. The first thing we saw was a motorbike that sat 5 people! It was really cool; I've never seen that before. After that, we walked around to see what they had and we found Wi-Fi, and we went to a store, and then there was nothing much to do, so we went back to the tender and got back on the ship.