Wellington - Picton

Despite the sunshine, our morning didn't get off to a fresh start as half way through cooking our porridge and boiling the kettle for coffee we ran out of gas. Turns out that after closer inspection, we had left the boiler on all night which completely rinsed our pretty recently topped up gas bottle. There was a time when this would have defeated us but not today! Instead we decided to have a quick shower (making the most of the well used boiler) and then set off in search for somewhere to fill up our gas bottle. Luckily LPG refills are one of the cheaper things in New Zealand.

Showering however didn't quite go to plan either as halfway through the first shower we realised that the waste tank was full so the water wasn't draining. We persevered trying not to use so much water that it overflowed and then made a quick trip to the dump station over the other side of the marina. We had time to some kill before getting our ferry to Picton so we decided to find a laundrette and be productive. By this point it had started raining anyway so we didn't fancy wandering around in the rain.

We arrived to the ferry exceptionally early which in a car would have been incredibly borrow but being in the van, we turned on the gas and rustled up some lunch. Blake even managed to give the van a quick clean.

Before long we were boarding the ferry which reminded me of childhood holidays to France. Once on the passenger deck we found a sofa and started some South Island planning, better late than never! Blakes stomach was not a massive fan of the boat rocking and she felt rather sea sick for most of the journey.

3 and a bit hours later and we arrived into the port of Picton on the South Island. We found free campsite just a short drive down the road and stopped there for the night in a little car park with 12 camper spots.Read more