The long way down

13 hours of travelling hostel to hostel today, via the bus from Auckland to Wellington. It was a lovely trip actually, and tremendously affordable (yay). The route (which I've superimposed here on the North Island map from my bird guide) went down through Hamilton, Taupo, and Palmerston North. It was a terrific and comfy ride down the heart of the North Island, though farmland, timber forests, and high desert, and alongside massive Lake Taupo, snowy mountains, and tumbling coastal surf. I finally made it to the Backpackers in Wellington around 9 pm, just as the last light was going. This place is cold, windy, and thumping with life. It's a lovely looking city--I've got 4 days here--though I'm really looking forward to the farms and the wilds of the South Island.

A Pukeko feather marks the spot...gotta put a bird on it, of course.