Off to the North - on a Ferry!

Up early today to check in and line up for the Interislander ferry to take us from New Zealand’s lovely South Island to Wellington on the north island. The whole system for loading the ferry was very smooth, and since it appears reservations are required for all travellers, we were fully loaded and on our way about 10 minutes ahead of schedule. The first part of the trip, leaving Picton, was through the beautiful calm waters and islands of Queen Charlotte Sound, and the scenery was very similar to ours in BC, with the exception of the amazing turquoise water here (photos don’t do it justice!). Once we got through the islands, we were out in the open water of Cook Strait, into 3 metre swells - the boat was listing pretty good and keeping balance was a challenge at times! Once we got into the harbour before Wellington, it calmed down again and we arrived at our destination around 12:30pm.

Didn’t take long to find our hotel, so we checked into our lovely room then took off on foot to explore Wellington. There is a lovely waterfront walk right in the downtown area, so we took in all the sights and sounds of that area. We got our bearings pretty quickly and found the places we will be visiting over the next couple of days - the Wellington Museum being one of them. It’s huge and we’ve heard very interesting, so looking forward to seeing that. We walked up to a funky pedestrian only area called Cuba Street, full of neat stores and restaurants, headed back down to the waterfront and to our hotel to chill out a bit before dinner.

We decided to take a break from the usual restaurant food for dinner, and instead went to a really neat food court in Capital Market where we sampled some amazing Asian dishes. Stopped at a local outdoor pub for a glass of wine on our way back, then returned to the hotel to prepare ourselves for a busy day tomorrow!Read more