Wellington to Picton ferry, Queen Elizabeth Drive, Pohara Beach

After getting up early and eating our breakfast in the van while waiting in the queue for the ferry (just a bowl of cereal, nothing fancy), it was half an hour late. It’s a similar, if not smaller, boat that crosses the channel from Dover. A fairly mundane 3 hours later we arrived on the South Island at Picton, a town of no real significance apart from the vineyards on the outskirts and its port. I immediately got a taste of the driving that was to come when turning right off the ferry took us up onto a mountainous, single track road running around the edge of the island with terrific views across the various sounds (essentially fjords?) which stretch across the tip of the South Island. When looking back at the map this road is called Queen Elizabeth drive, and is frequently closed off due to weather conditions, and its easy to see why (equivalent to mountainous welsh roads but with better views). 

The scenery is definitely an upgrade on that of the North Island, it’s harsher, more extreme, both more mountainous and more green (if that’s possible). This was not more true than when we passed over the Takaka Hill (definitely a mountain) and down into the valley beyond where a patchwork of ultra-green farms stretch out across the valley to the mountains on the other side, and the sea is on your right, just visible on the horizon. Really beautiful. 

Today was mostly about the journey form Wellington to Pohara Beach and taking in the sights and viewpoints along the way. We did just miss out on a Peanut Butter Factory Tour, much to Amelia’s dismay, and were planning on making it up to Wharariki Beach but that just ended up being too far. However once we got to the campsite we were made aware of the penguins which live on the coastline there. So we ventured forth to find them but alas couldn’t. Whether it’s the wrong time of year, day, too windy or what, we didn’t see a single one. Very disappointing. 

Tomorrow we’re going to try and pack loads in, and I got a shocking night sleep last night so should hopefully sleep like a baby tonight and be well rested for the busy day ahead.