Off to the North Island of N. Z.

April 3, 2010


Well off to the ferry, today we say goodbye to the North Island. We had an easy drive through Richmond and Nelson until we reached Havelock. Here we made the decision to take a short cut north to the ferry terminal at Picton. This paved rural road while only about 25 km long cut off almost 115 km of driving along Hwy 6. This turned out to be a beautiful drive through the mountains and around some gorgeous lakes. It also was the most twisted and convoluted drive I have ever done in my life. It took almost an hour to make it to Picton and I don’t ever think I managed the posted limit of 50 kph! Well we had 45 minutes to kill until the ferry boarded so we popped open the stove and made some lunch, this is the advantage of living out of a camper, you’re ready for anything. The Ferry travels through Queen Charlotte Sound for the first third of the journey, then right across the small stretch of sea that divides the two islands. The whole trip takes exactly three hours and the ferry really motors along. We had a beautiful crossing but really windy, you could hardly walk the deck without fear of being blown overboard.

As you approach the southern tip of the North Island you notice the wind farms. Even though Wellington is in a sheltered bay they call it Windy Wellington we arrived around suppertime and drove all of one kilometer to the house of Andrea Cotton, Mary Roses second cousin and her husband Pete who foolishly agreed to put us up for a couple of nights. We parked the van literally right in front of their townhouse along an incredibly narrow laneway – we had to warn the neighbours as we are blocking the whole thing however as we are right downtown there is nowhere else to put it. We had a great evening of food, shared stories, getting caught up with the family and watching James Bond ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’. As we only have one full day in Wellington, we have a lot to jam in tomorrow. Thank goodness it is Easter Sunday and many things are closed or we would be overwhelmed.