South Island Trip Begins

Day 1:  Auckland – Wellington

We departed for our South Island trip with a loaded car and full of anticipation.  The starting odometer reading was:

The drive south was an uneventful one.  We shared the driving, for one of us this was the first time they had driven the car! Getting the wheel back is proving to be a challenge!

The trip to Wellington is just an ordeal, a necessary evil to get us to our destination, but it still represents two lost or empty days of our holiday. The drive was pleasant we stopped for tea in Otorohonga and had lunch in Taumauranui.  Between Lunch and Bulls as stone was thrown up at us and we have a small chip in the windscreen on the drivers side!  Typical!  On closer inspection I am sure this chip can be fixed with a resin injection, rather than having to face a screen replacement.

The rain set in south of Palmerston North and stayed with us for the remainder of the day.  We crawled in traffic from Otaki south and turned off for the Hutt Valley at Whitby.  In Whitby harbor we were rewarded with the sight of a couple of Royal Spoonbills feeding on the flats.  Unfortunately I had no time to stop and take photos in the failing light.

We headed for Epuni and a short visit to the relatives.  At 10:00 PM we set off again for the Bluebridge terminal and our ferry.  By this time the weather had really started to worsen, the wind had picked up the rain had increased and the prospect of a rough ferry crossing beckoned.  Fortunately we had booked a cabin and an early emabarking  time so at least we could look forward to some sleep before departure.  The Straightsman, our ferry was late, so we had to doze as best we could in the car before we could get on board.  By 12:30AM we were allowed to board and get to our cabins.

We both fell asleep quickly and slept well through the crossing.  All through the night we were both aware of the ships movement but it was more of a gentle waddle rather than a rolling wallowing experience and facilitated sleep.

On arrival in Picton we were quizzed about the roughness of the crossing, based on the wind and rain conditions experienced in Picton overnight.  Clearly it had been a rough crossing but we had not found it so.