Inter-island ferry to Picton.
We packed up the car today and said good-bye to Howell, Tracey, Iwan and Megan who are heading north from Taupo to Auckland, where they’ll stay in our house for a a couple of days before heading back to the UK. We’re heading in the other direction to Wellington where we’ll stay overnight before taking the ferry across to the Cook Straight to South Island.
Our first stop is Palmerston North which funnily enough is one of NZ’s larger towns and an agricultural services centre for the area. There are very few buildings over four storeys.
Picnic in Palmerston North.
We parked-up and had a picnic in on an area of grass bang in the centre of the town before heading to the for NZ’s rugby museum which was a couple of streets away.
At New Zealand Rugby museum, Palmerston North.
The museum is a voluntary affair and Fred from Llandaff North was the attendant and he ran the Welsh flag up the flag pole and put on a Welsh music CD to accompany our look around the place (we were the only visitors at the time).
Swansea RFC club shield.
No photo of my brother-in-law Aled Williams the legendary Swansea outside half, but there was a Swansea RFC shield and Seven Sister RFC pin badge (my father’s home village club).
My favourite exhibit, a hand-completed table of results from the 1905 New Zealand tour of Great Britain. Played 35, won 34. Lost to Wales.
The most impressive exhibit to my eyes is the hand completed table of results for the ‘Originals’ 1905 tour to the British Isles, France and Canada. New Zealand played 35 and won 34, loosing the solitary game to Wales.
We then travelled on to Otaki where the wife of one of my team has a shop called ‘Good Kalmer’ which they had recently opened. We called in to say hello before the final leg of onto Wellington. We arrived at 16.00 after about 5 hrs of driving and 12 dead possums and 3 miscellaneous other ‘road kill’ (we had a sweep-stake on the number of dead possums – Ruth won with 21 and Meg cam last with 68).
We’re old hands when it comes to staying in Wellington and have splashed on a stay in the relative luxury of the Copthorn Hotel in Wellington. We went out for dinner and with the Welsh Bar being closed, had an early night.
Cari on the inter-island ferry to Picton (Wellington in the background)
The following morning we get up early to catch the Inter-Island ferry to the South Island. The scenery as you travel down Queen Charlotte Sound as you approach Picton is truely spectacular – steep hills (the top part of flooded glacial valleys covered in bush and emerald coloured water).
One of many incredibly located dwellings in Queen Charlotte Sound.
We spot a number of houses which are truly remarkable in terms of location. Accessed by boat with no utilities connected they must make for an incredible lifestyle and I can only wonder who these people are and how they live their lives.
Having arrived in Picton we then headed over Richmond where we discovered our camping site was not what the internet had made it out to be – it was actually a temporary dwelling for itinerant immigrant fruit pickers and we appear to be the only tourist staying. But hey-ho, its only a one night stay!!
On the beach near Nelson.
We popped into Nelson and had a look around and then onto the beach before returning to the camp site for an early night.
NewZealandly 