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Published: February 12th 2011
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We arrived in Picton South island on the last ferry off the day so we had pre arranged a hostel in Picton. The ferry crossing was very rough but we where rewarded with some stunning views and a great sunset,
we had earlier planned to do the Queen charlotte track the next day but opted not to due to the fact that we had seen most of Marlbrough sounds on the way in. Also the fact that it is another one way track that first you have to pay for a hut pass then you must arrange and pay a water taxi to pick you up from the other end, this is becoming the norm on the money making "great walks" we are growing tired of this and now avoid these over rated things at all cost!
Next day we picked up our hire car, a 1997 nissan sunny, in which we will live for the remaining 3 weeks we have in NZ.
A very fine machine at a very bargin price of $41 a day, thats cheaper than a backpack accommodation!!
So we drove across the north part of south island through nelson, moeteka, over the Tikka mountains, which
was a very twisting turning road up from sea level to 1200m.
We finally arrived at the northernmost point of south island not really expecting a lot as it is not really advertised.
We parked the car and followed a small hilly path to the coast to a fantastic sunset and some brilliant rock formations, whilst taking photos Ilona noticed a few seal cubs that where high up on a square block, i am quite sure they where catapulted up there or they are brilliant rock climbers, we have no idea how they got up there!
The sea in this area is so rough, our memories go back to being in a canoe , but not here! i still need my shoes!
So we headed back to the car for a much needed sleep, down go the seats, and in we pop. holy shit, i am quite sure that if we had a good few rounds wrestling with the ultimate warrior and ken shamrock, that we would have felt a lot better the next day.
Ilona slept in the spare wheel housing i slept with one foot in the open glove box and the other foot up the exhaust
pipe, well i must have because thats how it felt the next day....oh well at least we had transport now.
Next day we headed for a cliff top hike in very strong winds, as we where walking we heard a strange animal noise from the gully below, so we scrambled down the steep cliff to gain a look into the sheltered bay below, we caught site of a couple of seals messing around below.....this is a fantastic area and well worth going to to get away from the regular rip off tourist traps, this is free and you dont need a guide to get you from the car park to the toilet like everywhere else in NZ...
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Ramz
Ramanan
Good trip!
Hi Richard & Ilona, Welcome to travel blog. I have been posting since 2006.Your blog on west island is good and snaps are pretty nice. Looks like you guys had a good time, the place looks stunning. The picture 2080318 the majestic rocky cliff over looking the sea is simply fabulous. If you can give captions to your shots it will be good, do try. Even I was wondering how the seals have scaled such height , amazing. All the very best to you both and wish you lots of travel ahead. This is Ramz from India ! do visit my page. cheers. Ramz