Start – Wellington
Finish – Picton
Daily Distance – 0 km
TA Distance – 1733 km
Goodbye North island, hello South! Having very little left to do I have mainly dawdled today, making the
most of just sitting and soaking up the Wellingtonian atmosphere. Before long though it was time to catch
my bus to the ferry terminal and wave a fond goodbye to the island which has been my home for the past
2 1/2 months.
Fortunately the ferry crossing couldn’t have been smoother and I wasn’t compelled to loiter close to the
seasickness bags. Rather, I was able to wander the boat, take in the sea air and succumb to a midafternoon
nap. It’s interesting to note how little of the 3 1/2 hour crossing is actually spent in the open
ocean. Most of the route is actually spent wiggling between islands or long arms of coastline. I was on
deck for some of the exposed part and the wind at times had me holding onto the rail to avoid being
blown over. Picton arrived in short order though and the baggage reclaim was every bit as smooth as the
crossing. Within 5 minutes of stepping off the boat I was on the way to my hostel amd wondering just
why I didn’t book into somewhere closer to the town.
Tomorrow morning I will catch a water taxi to Ship Cove and begin the Queen Charlotte track and Te
Araroa south. I’m hopeful of having company at times over the next few days as I ran into Goldie (of the
short shorts) and Georgia at the ferry terminal, both of whom I had last seen on new year’s day in the
Tararuas. I had assumed they would have made the crossing already, but 1 hospital stay and 1 family new
year later, we’re all on the same boat. Funny how things work out.
