“Does this go to Wellington?” I asked, 95% sure I already knew the answer.
“Yep!” Said the attendant. She seemed anxious to get moving.
When I awoke today, I had no idea what I was going to do. I had thought about trying to go to the South Island but that seemed to late in planning to do so. I opened a brochure from a folder Lois and Andrew had left on the counter. There was mention of visiting upper hut and seeing where part of Rivendell had been filmed. I figured I’d been here three days it was probably time to visit LOTR spots. I found the time tables and headed out down to meet the bus.
I forgot the weekend schedules were different than the weekdays, but luckily I was still ten minutes early for the 81 to Courtenay. The sun was coming out today, it didn’t seem like it would rain. A family came down from the hill and stopped just before the road. They let some cars pass and then crossed. Mom, Dad, daughter, and two sons climbed down to the beach with their two dogs. The kids ran around on the beach, I was starting to watch and almost missed my bus.
I got off at Petone again, my transfer was Petone Station. Now to find the station. I couldn’t get wifi working and the maps I had didn’t show it. I decided to try walking in a direction I hadn’t yet in Petone. The roads seemed dull, and broken. I passed some construction work and things were continuously looking grim. I came upon the store where Andrew had taken me my first day, so at least I had a relative idea of where I was. Speaking of Andrew and Lois, I haven’t seen them in a few days. I’ve been thinking I should say hi or maybe make them something like a pie next week.
I saw some tracks up ahead and my eyes followed up as I saw something that looked like a rail station. I followed the metal and plastic structures till I saw the sign above the station door. Looked like the place, so I crossed a couple streets and made my way up a ramp to the doors. Closed on weekends. I peered around the corner and saw people waiting. I figured the rail probably still ran on weekends. With or without an open station, so I looked at the schedule board to see which side I needed to be on. I had to cross up and over to the other platform.
The train came and I stepped on, ready to tap my card. To my confusion, there was no place to use the card. Well ok then. An attendant walked up and down the aisles but never came to me. The train started up and we headed north. I sat behind some college students, discussing drinking and complaining about a bunch of things. They were at a table, facing opposite the direction we were going. I never saw the girl, or the boy by the window. I could only slightly see the red headed bearded boy through the seat cracks.
We stopped at Waterloo, and the attendant went around again, never approaching me. He punched some people’s tickets, and moved on. He had a reflecting vest and that’s about all I saw. I never looked him in the eye. I kept my eyes on the roads and mountains we were passing. There was a gorgeous lake with some seagulls between Waterloo and Petone. Didn’t have time for a photo.
The stop my wonderful phone told me to go to was Upper Hutt station. I promptly got off and looked around. It was pretty dead, a station basically in the middle of no where, except a small shopping center that seemed kind of sketchy. I pretty much knew I wasn’t where I wanted to be, but decided to try to make the best of it. I sought out a cafe with wifi to figure out my plans.
I wandered over to the shopping area, crossing the streets and still of course looking in the wrong directions for the cars. I passed shop by shop, and no signs for wifi. I checked my phone to see if I could connect. There was a McDonalds with it, but it wouldn’t connect. The cafes didn’t seem vegetarian friendly, and there were a few people sitting outside talking loudly to themselves. I passed a clothing store and did a double take. I almost went in on the basis that there was a black halter dress, pinup style, in the window. At first it looked like cherries and leaves but upon closer inspection it was red skulls and leaves. I almost went in to find out how much but decided I didn’t need a new dress, and my money would be better spent on other things.
Having failed to find a decent place too stop, I went back to the station. I checked the schedules and decided that whatever train showed up next, I’d be on it. It occurred to me that I must have ridden the first track for free.i read some more info, including the section on ” paying for your fare ” – yep, definitely should have paid the attendant.
When the next train arrived, two women attendants got off, I half expected them to think I was crazy because I was alone, in the middle of nowhere. I saw the led sign flashing “Wellington, All Stops”. I chose to make sure with the attendant anyways.
With Upper Hutt being unsuccessful, I decided the train ride wasn’t a total loss. I got to see more of the land and people watch – the two best things one gets to enjoy while traveling.