Sun & Mon - Heading to the South Island

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It poured all night and as we left the next day headed for Wellington to catch the ferry to the South Island. Our ferry was a 1pm so we had lots of time. We walked around a little while we waited and came upon a film crew doing their thing. The ferry was gigantic and uneventful and now that brings us to Picton where we decide whether to stay put a couple of days or not. So you've caught up with us and if you feel as if you've followed a whirlwind, then you are truly sharing our experience!
Nighty night.


We did decide to spend at least 2 days in Picton and we had a beautiful, sunny day for activity. We ask about tramps (walks here) and find one that they say is a 40 min walk one way. It is called The Snout and we follow directions and drive up to the car park. And it's up we go. There doesn't seem to be anything but straight up here. Muscles complaints are not long and we're warm despite the wind.
We arrive at the lookout and find that actually it is 50 min from the car park to the lookout and another 40 min from lookout to the Snout (3 hours return trip)! Surprisingly we started going down! But never fear up we go up again. Our arrival at “The Snout” is worth the exercise. We have a view of the sound and all of the islands around. I wouldn't have believed we were so far up considering how far we walked down. Tons of boats zipping around as there is no access except by boat. All the islands have trees right to the water line. One of the activities here is to go with the mail boat to different islands delivering their mail. We get to see the ferries taking off and realize how far in the inlet actually is from the ocean. As we look around at the “mountains” we notice that they all have visible tracks going up and down. Apparently you can do a multiple day tramp! In all, our wee tramp took us 3 hours. Every time we get somewhere new there is so much to see and do that you could spend your whole time in that one spot. Exploring all these islands and walks could take us the whole year! Steve, the mountain bike tracks here would be incredible challenges.
Anyhow, as well as fun we have some downs. The last time we used our video camera in Lake Taupo, the view screen was showing the pictures upside down. The last photo we took with the camera was one “cousin” James Muir, a big golf fan. From the lake's edge, not a high cliff but not sea level, there is a “stall” where you can buy a certain amount of golf balls and you try to get a hole in one on a gigantic raft a long way away on the lake. It looks impossible but we watch several people give it a go! So hopefully we can turn that picture upside up later.
In Picton, the camera just wouldn't turn on at all. Grahame is not happy. We left it in the sun, hoping that if it was wet it would dry out but no luck. It looks like we will have to rely on the camera for video as well. Just more of a pain as you have to fix so many settings to get the video.
That night we continue to battle the fight for accommodations and those school children on holiday! The weather is also causing some concern. They are calling for 150 km winds and we're wondering if it would be safe to drive but there are no travel warnings on the news. While the kids get on with school work we try to arrange our next plan of action.

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