Hitchhiking in New Zealand: Wellington

Hitchhiking in New Zealand: Wellington

6th of July, 2025.

Alright. Been here with Niki is just so awesome! It’s been 8 months since we first met in Vietnam. Every time we meet after our volunteer work together, it feels different, better. This time, it was like we were friends for a long time, and not simply the first time I stayed with her.

This is her mum’s place. She’s spending her last few days in NZ with her mum, before she goes to Canada. I know, that’s so cool! She’ll stay over there for some months, travelling and figuring out what she wants to do.

We chat for some time, and then make plans of going to Wellington. A friend of hers is coming over, and then they are meeting some other friends in the city. I need to buy new boots and to exchange some cash and books.

— comes around 14.00 hours. She’s also an artist, just like Niki, and they first met exactly one week ago. —is super cool too, and we drive together to Wellington.

The girls drop me off at the Currency Exchange and from there I will find the other places I must go. They will check out a tattoo exhibition.

The funniest thing happens when I’m coming back from the shop. As I’m crossing the tiny street where they just dropped me off, they are still there, just about to leave. I was not expecting that, neither were they, so we all burst into laughter.

At the Kathmandu shop where I buy my boots, a surprise. The guy who helps me out is super cool and we spend a lot of time talking about travels and life in general. He even helps me to get a discount for my boots, as they were the last one in my size and one pair was at the show room.

At the second hand bookshop which Niki suggested me, Pegasus, I get a bit confused. It’s a lovely place and there are so many great books that I don’t know what I choose. This time I didn’t come prepared with a list, well, kind of, but it didn’t help. So I did the best with the short time I had. And it took me one hour.

I meet the girls at a pub. Their friends are nice but the place is so crowded and loud that I can’t really enjoy. Luckily, as it’s getting late and they have other plans, we leave soon enough.

We stop by —‘s place to get some tofu. Niki will make us her famous tofu in tomato sauce, the same one we’re having in Vietnam. —- has some awesome books, including Simone de Beauvoir and George Orwell.

As we are cooking, I tell Niki we should take a photo of us together, plus the tofu, and send in the WhatsApp group they still have it for the volunteer work in Vietnam. She suggests we make a video. Even better. The food is delicious and the video is super funny.

Next morning, as we are ready to go by walking to my hitchhiking place, Niki’s mum kindly offer to take me all the way to Wellington by car. Amazing! That actually would end up being one of the best things ever. But before we leave, she gives me some body lotion, shampoo and toothpaste. All of them in small sizes, which is very practical / ideal for me.

Even before we make to the ferry terminal, Niki’s mum starts telling me a bit about Wellington’s history.

Then, at the terminal, a surprise: there’s no ferry at 13.30 hours today. The reason? Some engineering problems. There are two companies sending people and vehicles from Wellington to Picton (North to South Island) and vice-versa. Bluebridge does mostly trucks, and that’s why is cheaper. InterIslander has bigger ferries, to accommodate more passengers, so they are a bit more expensive. But that’s just a few dollars. Well, that’s if you buy it online. If you buy at the counter, you’ll pay at least 10 NZD less.

The company which has the cancelation is Bluebridge, so I go to InterIslanders. The problem is that they only have a ferry at 16.30 hours, meaning I’ll arrive at Picton only after dark, as the crossing it takes 3.5 hours. The other thing is, they don’t take cash, only card. I need to use the cash which Kanani and Mark so kindly gave me specifically for the ferry. Luckily, Niki offers to pay with her card and I give her the cash. Yay! A few minutes later, she does the same with another lady. How sweet!

Now I have a few hours left until my ferry. Debbie, Niki’s mother, suggest that we take a short tour around the city center, and up to a view point in the mountains. Cool!

Wellington is a small town, and just as in other countries I’ve been, the fact that it is the recognized capital, doesn’t match with its proportions and economic situation. The better example of that would be Auckland, the biggest, most populous and the economic center of the country; followed in size by Christchurch (South Island). So Wellington actually worth it visiting. You can easily do the city center in a few hours; the waterfront is also nice; and then the nightlife scene, for the ones who like it, it’s not bad. Make it sure you go up for a view of the town from Charles Plimmer Park. We finish our tour with a pie from a local New World.

Debbie also told me that, on my way back up to Auckland, if I need to stay another night in Wellington, I can come and stay with her again, even though Niki will most likely be in Canada already by that time. Yay!

The girls drop me off at the passenger terminal soon before 15.00 hours.

It’s sad to say goodbye to Niki. But in somehow it doesn’t really seems like a goodbye. And it wasn’t.