Crossing the Cook Strait to Wellington

Tuesday 6 June

Another early start; we wanted to make the one o'clock Interislander ferry to Wellington, and the South Island terminal at Picton was a fair morning's drive away. But, once again, we were blessed with warm sunshine and after a non-taxing journey we arrived at the charming town of Picton (sadly only notable for the ferry terminal) with time to spare for lunch.

Picton Harbour

Then it was on to the ferry,

and a sad farewell to New Zealand's South Island; at least we would be taking many happy memories - and hundreds of photos - with us.

The leisurely cruise along the Cook Strait in the sunshine reminded us a bit (just a bit) of our Milford Sound trip just a week ago...

In fact, the day was deceptively chilly as we headed north, but we were reluctant to leave the open deck as we watched Picton recede into the distance and disappear; there was always the possibility of dolphin spotting, and anyway the scenery was too good to miss.

Eventually, the coast of North Island appeared and some time later - right on schedule - the ferry pulled into Wellington Harbour.

Following some sketchy navigation and a slightly confusing detour we arrived at our accommodation for the next three nights, a basic but comfortable studio apartment.

As it was evening, we ventured next door to a promising-looking bar/restaurant. Sadly, this place provided us with the worst meal experience of our entire year so far; in hindsight it was comically bad! We waited precisely one hour between the starter and the main course and on questioning the waitress she informed us that the delay was because the chef "had decided to go for a walk"! After approximately an eternity we were each presented with what appeared to be a dirty plate; closer inspection with a magnifying glass revealed that this was, in fact, the main course.
The only saving grace was that the restaurant managed to undercharge us for our drinks; we left the money for the bill (no tip!) on the table and fled.

Not to be deterred by one lousy meal, we retired for the night ready to explore Wellington afresh the following day.