Monday 31st December – The Cook straight ferry to the South Island for New Year

An early start for us – we had a 30-minute drive to the ferry terminal where we needed to arrive by 730am. We dropped off our foot passengers before Si and I rolled straight on to the ferry (right) and got some prime seating right by a window:



 

I was in great company....Trouble with kids these days.... too busy on their devices to enjoy their surroundings!

It was a cold grey morning in Wellington, we were all wearing trousers and wrapped up warm.  It was like we’d sailed to another country when we reached the other side of the Cook Straight. It transformed into a lovely sunny day on the Marlborough sounds.

Cloudy Wellington (above)...... and weaving through the Marlborough sounds in the sunshine (below)

A map of a section of the Marlborough Sounds... see how many islands there are.

Either petrels or shearwaters...?!

There were no whales or dolphins to be seen, but pretty scenery, plenty of birds for me to ogle and Picton itself was stunning in the sunshine.

Arriving into beautiful Picton

It was then a two-hour drive to reach Nelson and join the Edwards who were amazing hosts as usual. We all started drinking, had a few games of cards and a feast of a BBQ before getting a lift into Nelson for the New Year street party. The bars were rammed and extremely hot. Having done three rounds of drinks, Nick, Huihana and I were stuck queuing at the bar at the stroke of midnight trying to get the next lot in! But the 6 of us had an enjoyable night out.

Happy New Year 2019!!

We carried on the party by playing darts until 3am back at the house!