South Island at last!

Finally the day has come to leave the lovely, cosy home of Rachel and Dave and set off for the next adventure.
Yesterday was a bit of a crazy day of sorting, packing, tidying and cooking...for nine people! For some reason we thought the best day to invite James and Justice and their kids over for dinner was the day before we were due to leave. This was made even more disconcerting when we remembered that we had been due to leave the following day when they last had us for dinner, but of course an earthquake struck. As it happens this time the night went smoothly, dinner was great and we had a nice evening saying bye to new friends.

The morning was calm and the sky was a lovely pale purple, it looked promising for a good crossing over the Cook Straight and then through Marlborough Sounds. It started so well, we stood outside and then headed to the observation deck to take in the scenery and wave goodbye. We were only about half an hour in at most and Rob pointed out dolphins!!!!! There were about three or four small dolphins a few metres from the side of the boat, bobbing in and out of the water. Considering we avoided the dolphin tours as they seem to chase them down, this made my day as I have been waiting to see them in the wild for ages since been here. We soon out ran them though, Rob didn't even get a picture.

After spending a but of time back inside the boat we noticed the sounds ahead of us and so went back outside to enjoy the view that everyone says is so beautiful. It really was, lovely still water, forested cliffs that reached the shores, it was very mesmerising. Then the rain came, and never stopped. We headed back inside and didn't make it back out again before docking.

Once off the ferry and in Picton the rain seemed to get even heavier. Fortunately the old ship we had planned to see was undercover in a dry dock. The ship is...
It was pretty awesome to walk around, especially as it is just been preserved rather than restored, it just had a bit more of a history to it I think. The textures and colours of the wood and copper was really interesting and the back story of the ship was told really well in the video they had.

The rain still hadnt let up when we left and so we stopped for lunch at Subway and then headed north to Collingwood and Cape Farewell.

The drive took us through the wine region first, so many vines, and then we were up in the mountains, with pouring rain and cloud everywhere. We past many lookout points so we knew the view must be good, we just couldn't see it. We could barely see a few metres ahead at times and the road was so winding (with sheer drops at times) that it was pretty unpleasant. We managed one photo op when the moody skies lifted ever so slightly. But apart from that....nothing.

We arrived late at Collingwood, a tiny little place (practically a street) whuch sat by wetlands. Fortunately the rain was easing and we managed to cook some dinner before bed.Read more