From the North Island to the South Island

(Location: Wellington to Westport, New Zealand)

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Day 6: From the North to the South Island
The ferry from Wellington departed at 8am, and the crossing to Picton (on the South Island) took just over three hours. The sea was generally calm, but the boat had to travel very slow due to the narrow passages. The ferry had wifi, so we were able to book a holiday park online. We drove through the Marlborough lakes district (home of sauvignon blanc) heading generally west. The scenery here was unbelievable – tall mountains, lush valleys, rainforests, and rushing rivers. The curvy road was a bit challenging, and there were lots of trees down from the recent storm (Cyclone Ita), but we made it to Westport by early afternoon. When we arrived, we were pretty happy with this holiday park: across the street from a gorgeous beach, very clean communal kitchen, bathrooms with hairdryers, and good wifi. We cracked open a bottle of wine from Waiheke and took a walk on the beach at sunset. Serene. Until we returned to the holiday park and joined (literally) 50 German teens on some sort of singing tour. While the kitchen was complete insanity, it was very quiet at our site (phew!).

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Next stop: Down the East Coast