Wairoa to Wellington to Picton

Saturday morning, May 1, we cleaned house and packed up all our stuff in preparation for the drive one last time to Napier and an afternoon flight to Wellington. In Wellington, we shuttled to our downtown hotel. All transitions were uneventful and mostly hassle free. Finding dinner was much more of a challenge since downtown was overflowing with people doing what we were doing--going out for dinner and then to the rugby match! Sadly, all the great pubs were standing room only. We ended up in the Holiday Inn
restaurant--no crowds there......

For quite some time, we have been hoping to get to a professional rugby match so we were delighted when we discovered that the Wellington Hurricanes (pronounced HUR-i-kins) were scheduled to play the Hamilton Chiefs on our Saturday night in Wellington. After dinner, we joined throngs of people walking to the very accessible Westpac Stadium on the waterfront at the north end of downtown Wellington. The stadium is affectionately known as “cake tin” for obvious reasons (see picture).

We had read and watched a video online called “Rugby for Beginners” so we at least had an inkling of what was going on--scrums and tries, for instance. The night was cold but clear with a gorgeous full moon hanging just above the top of the stadium. We were privileged to watch the Hurricanes come from behind and triumph over the Chiefs--even had a last second try (goal) that pushed them to a healthy win. It was an easy walk back to our hotel.

Sunday morning we left early for our three hour ferry ride across the Cook Strait to Picton on the South Island.

We left Wellington in heavy gray clouds but sun broke out about half way across and we sailed through the Marlborough Straits in full sun.

The straits are a lacework of peninsulas, islands, endless coves, small bays and inlets.

Our dreaded crossing was smooth, scenic, and satisfying. Interestingly, though going from the North Island to the South Island, Wellington and Picton are directly east to west of each other and the ferry goes mostly northwest until turning at the last to go southeast.

In Picton, a bus met the ferry and transported all passengers to a little terminal to collect baggage. The driver then invited folks to come back on board for a free trip into town and even to accommodations. How friendly is that?! We spent the afternoon doing a two hour hike out of town in Victoria Domain with views to the water.