Thursday 17th February - Ferry to Picton

Aurora_b
Mike and Liz Downing
Wed 23 Mar 2011 09:19
Our first motel stop was in the heart of Wellington, a short walk from the harbour, but having arrived at 19.00 the day before and catching the 10.30 ferry, there hasn't been much time to look around. We'll have to do more on the way back. The ferry is a big ship - it carries cars, big lorries and railway trucks, and has to cope with vicious seas that the Cook Strait can throw up. Having a very uneven sea bed and with both tide and wind funneling through, the Cook Strait can generate very big and very steep seas, but fortunately not on our crossing. It was classified as moderate and the 3 hour crossing was very smooth. The scenery once inside Marlborough Sound - the last 20 or so miles are within the Sounds, was, to use a word we often hear here, awesome, with high rolling hills on either side. Picton is a lovely place, again very picturesque nestling in the hills, and like all of New Zealand, spotlessly clean with loads of tourist information well marked. The motel at Picton was a little more modest compared to Wellington, but perfectly adequate and everyone here is so friendly.
 
Goodbye to North Island. The lorry and trailer in the foreground was full of cows being transported to
South Island - so far in NZ we've seen far more cows than sheep.
 
The final stage of the trip across the Cook Strait goes though the Sounds - the Tory Channel and into
Queen Charlotte Sound to Picton.
 
This and the 3 below - views as the ferry goes through the Sounds.
 
 
 
 
Picton, nestling in the hills that surround it.
 
 
The gardens in Picton - not a blade of grass out of place!