Day 46 - Monday 19 February 2024

This morning I had an early alarm set for 05:30, but was wide awake well before that; today was the day that I took the Interislander ferry from Wellington on the North island to Picton in the South island. It marks a watershed in my journey; another section of the trip long planned that has now passed to the past. The North island is done; just over a month in the South island until New Zealand is done ..... it doesn't bear thinking about.

Checked out of the hotel at 06:30, and a walk to get the car. Parking in a public car park for the weekend cost me less than one night would have done at the hotel, so that was a bit of a win. Back to the hotel at 06:45 to load my luggage, and away to the Interislander check-in at 07:00 for the 08:45 sailing. 

Checked in quickly, I joined the queue waiting to board and finished the book I was reading After a start-stop loading process I was directed to the spot they wanted me to park. A really nice breakfast in the ship cafe, and then I went to the top deck and grabbed a space outside for the voyage. As it was a breezy day in Wellington I'd grabbed my hoody that I've not worn since the UK in case it was a bit chilly.

We departed about an hour late; first some technical issues to solve and then a container ship was departing that we needed to wait for. It took us about a half hour to get out of Wellington Harbour (due to geography, not being held up by anything), and as we entered the Cook Straight I discovered that my classification of 'breezy' was a bit out. Wellington Harbour is well protected by the surrounding hills, but the Cook Straight is basically a funnel between the only bits of land this far south, so I was hanging onto the barrier to stay still. I took loads of video footage, but it was impossible to hold the camera steady in the wind (note: I've checked the footage and the Gopro stabilisation is really impressive!). What was quite amusing is that the top deck was suddenly pretty empty from being packed; it wasn't cold, but I was glad of the hoody to protect me from the wind!

Across the Cook Straight we travelled, and soon the North island was fading behind us, and the South island was appearing out of the haze. As we approached the lee of the South island, the wind strength died down to a basic gale and it was no longer necessary to hang onto the railings as much.  

Goodbye North island

Hello South island

Aiming for a narrow entrance, we made it into the Tory Channel and did an immediate right angle turn so that we didn't run into the Marlborough hills. The passage was beautiful, and a few more sharp turns bought us from the Tory Channel and into the Queen Charlotte Sound and the final run into Picton. The scenery was just beautiful, and the claim that it's one of the most scenic ferry journeys in the world will take some beating.

Finally at Picton, the ferry did a 180 degree pirouette and reversed into a really narrow gap in the port, which was very impressive. We had the call to return to our cars, and were soon disembarking. I'd set my Satnav to my hotel for the night, and at the first roundabout the instruction was to go straight. I'd researched this route, and going straight took me on state highways to Nelson, but I knew there was a far more interesting route on a twisty road with viewpoints, so I turned right. Almost immediately I had a view back to the port of Picton, and the ship I'd just travelled on.

There were a lot of roadworks on the road I'd chosen; in places they were resealing the surface, in others half the road had disappeared over a cliff and they were attempting repairs. In between the roadworks, the viewpoints provided a series of very impressive vistas.

About an hour from Nelson, the day started to catch up with me as I started yawning and felt my eyelids get heavier, so I maxed out the AC and made it to my accommodation at around 16:15. I'm staying about a 15 minute walk from the middle of Nelson, so I set out to explore the town with a view to getting dinner. I made it no further than 50 metres as there is a bar and restaurant called The Anchor on our doorstep that I'd not noticed on the way on.

Happy hour is from 17:00 to 18:00, so I had a couple of beers and decided to stay for dinner; tenderloin of lamb with couscous and flaked goats cheese. A bit counter intuitive, but it totally worked; I think I've found my dinner spot for my 4 night stay here!

One other bit of news; I've changed my plans for Queen Charlotte Sound. I'm not currently physically up to a 15km hike up and down hills with a deadline to meet, so I've changed the Ship Bay to Furneaux Lodge hike to a Queen Charlotte Sound cruise instead. I'm hoping that my calves will calm down with the rest and allow me to do some hikes I really want to do in the next month or so.