Picton, South Island

I was excited to go to the South Island as it’s known for its mountains and stunning views. All of NZ is known to be beautiful but particularly South Island. The ferry we were taking was leaving at 8am but we had to check in an hour before for the 3.5 hour journey. This meant we had to get up much earlier and I was not happy about it at all. It also meant we were taking another boat and I just hoped the time would pass quickly and perhaps I would be able to get some sleep during the journey. We took our car on the ferry and because we were right on time, we were one of the first ones on the ferry, which meant we had to park in the lower hold. This also meant we would be the very last ones to get off. This is what happens when you arrive on time. Tardiness pays off sometimes. We spent the hour exploring the boat and waiting for the sun to rise, as it was still dark outside. Once we were finally off I tried to sleep, but 20 minutes into our journey, an announcement came on that a Tsunami warning had been issued and we had to change course, which would add an hour to our travel time. I looked at Andrew and told him “Every time I get on a boat something happens! It’s like I’m destined to drown! After this we are not taking any more boats or ferries!” I have tried to tell myself I’m being silly and all these things are coincidences but they keep happening when I get on the boat. Luckily 40 minutes later the announcer came back on and said the Tsunami warning had been cancelled and we were back on course. I could breathe again. But there was no way I was going to sleep. I had to keep my eyes and ears open for any signs of danger.

I didn’t get to see the sights as we were pulling into Picton as I spent the last hour in front of the laptop trying to catch up on the blog. It has been extremely difficult to keep up with the blog especially in Australia and NZ. We are constantly on the move and in a different place almost every night so we spend all our time walking around and exploring and I never have the time to sit down and write. It’s amazing how time consuming it is! Sometimes I have to give up seeing something or participating in something just not to fall too far behind. I fell 2 months behind at one point and it took forever to catch up. You just don’t remember the details after that long.

Once we arrived in Picton, we had to wait an extra 30 minutes to get off the boat. Once we were off we stopped to have fish and chips but it wasn’t very good and we didn’t feel too good after it. Picton is a very small town so we kept moving on. We took the scenic drive to Nelson, and although the views were amazing, it was pouring rain. Something it would continue doing while we were on the West coast of the south island.