Marty and Esther's Adventures

Hi from the north island of New Zealand! We left Picton on the south island Tuesday after several days of great weather. Both of us remember Picton from our 2004 trip. At first we were not sure, but on the way to Picton to come north, we took the back road into town we used in 2004, and remembered more.

Havelock from Queen Charlotte Dr.

Picton near the ferry terminal.

We did sneak in one last hike near Picton, a hike out to the tip of land called the snout. Not super long but with plenty of elevation. The views were worthwhile.

180 degree panoramic photo of the "snout".

We rode the government ferry this time, and it is even larger than the last one. These ferries also take railroad cars, so that was fun to watch them load them. The crossing was smooth, but bad weather greeted us that night and the next morning in Wellington. Heavy downpours and high winds. Made us grateful to be indoors.

Sailing toward storm clouds near Wellington on the ferry.

There is something about Tuesdays here. It seems like there is always bad weather on Tuesdays.

We headed north from Wellington today to New Plymouth. We had very strong winds from the south today (20-30 kts), which made the Tasman Sea a mess. As you can see below, no kayaking today.