Day 16 Thursday

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Day 16 Thursday

5.45 wake up call and then off to the interisland ferry terminal – well that was the idea, but we thought we would be clever and got on to the motorway expecting there to be an exit – but there wasn’t. Plenty of signs for towns north but none for the ferry! Oh well – just as well we left early. The sea was going to be “moderate” but anyone who knows Deb and ferry crossings will know that that word provides no reassurance. Anyway it was calm. The ferry crosses the open sea of the Cook Strait before weaving through many narrow passages to get to Picton. We left Wellington, rounded the corner and then got blasted by gale force winds through the strait. The wind picked up spray and it felt like rain.

Picton, though a ferry port was no bigger than Crayford. Walking though the car deck to disembark we were met with a definite farmyard smell – there was a full cattle wagon on board. The hire car was a Toyota – the big problem was that the indicators and wipers were on the other side from the Ford – so we were wiping the windscreen instead of indicating left.

We drove from Picton through to Nelson, then we arrived – paradise! Mountains on one side, mountains on the other, a bay in the foreground – a beautiful lodge. We went to a local restaurant in the evening – a converted boat hut, with waves lapping four feet from us and a first class meal (turbot).

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