February 3 - Wellington to Picton - Ferry

We were booked on the 10:25 ferry and, as per our usual style, we were ready way too early.  So, we stopped for breakfast at the railway station.  The trains arrive at a furious rate and there are masses and masses of people using the system, demonstratibg how a well run transportation system can work.

After breakfast we cycled the Wellington Waterfront Walkway/Cycleway.  That killed an hour and we were still way early for the ferry.   Her's looking back at the city from the walkway.


The ferry is a combination railcar, freight, vehicle and passenger (oh yeah, bikes, too if you pay

$15 each).  The ferry stern loads with the larger trucks backing on or off and cars doing a loop
around the bow.  Also, there are tie downs for all trailers, similar to the Newfoundland ferry we took a couple of years ago.  Heading out of Wellington harbour was slightly bouncy due to waves funneling through the harbour entrance.  After that sailing across Cook Strait was calm (but you can see a few queasy people on board).  I saw a photo of one particularly
 harsh  voyage - lucky we weren't on that one.  Only half the 4 hour voyage is on open water - we've just entered Queen Charlotte Sound (go figure on the name).  It's the NZ equivalent of going through Active Pass (but wider) so I'm going to stop writing and check out the view.

Here's a couple of shots of the sound from the boat.  Beautiful scenery, but if you squinted you could believe its Active Pass.





We sai8led into Picton and got off.  I was actually surprized at how quickly the ferry did turn around - not as fast as BC Ferries, but much faster than the Newfoundland or PEI ferries.  I'll say it again - our ferries are well run and reasonable cost when you compare to the other services we've seen.



Pickton turned out to be bigger than we thought which makes sense considering there are two ferry companies and a railroad in town.  Add that to the tourism and the services required and you get a good employment base.  Here's a couple of shots of Picton, of the main street and from up on a hill nearby.

 Being silly, I jumped on the bike and went for a short  ride up the coast (heading up the middle of this picture on the left).  Again, houses are perched on the hill precariously.  Many have roads to a group of them marked "Private Road - No Turnaround."  If some looky-loo in an RV went up there he would never make it out.

A last photo of the sound, from as far as I got.  I realized I haven't yet gone for a swim , yet.  (Don't worry, I have had a bath or two).  I'll have to jump in somewhere down the coast.


We're off to Nelson tomorrow.  It's 109 km on a very twisty road but not too hard, apparently.  We met another Canadian from Toronto who told us it was a piece of cake compared with some of the stuff we've already done.

Speaking of cyclists - we've met a dozen or more so far, most of whom have been in NZ about as long as we have been.  The largest number have been Canadian, one Brit, a few German or Swiss and a couple of NZ types.  Very few Americans.

By the way, we've been watching the news about the cyclone that hit Queensland today.  It came ashore as a place called Mission Beach, south of Cairns.  We stayed there on our first trip to Australia.