Marlborough-Sounds

15th December 2009 We left Blenheim this morning without even having a taste of wine apart from the bottle of Australian red that we had last night - probably not the done thing, but we’ve never been sticklers for tradition :). The rows of vines morphed into rolling countryside once more which finally met the sea in Picton. It was another lovely day so we parked up and went for a walk across the harbour, climbing up to get wonderful views looking back to the ferry terminal and further out across the sounds before we came to a small bay where crystal clear waters lapped the shore. We were walking for about an hour and a half which gave us a great opportunity to see more of Picton, which actually seems like a nice place, rather than leaving New Zealand with the impression that it was a cold, dreary place with a ferry terminal, which is what we thought when we first came in on the ferry about 4 weeks ago. ...

22nd November 2008 Time for us to leave the North Island and take the early morning ferry to Picton. The ferry we caught used to be called the Pride of Cherbourg (you could still read its name on the side) and is the biggest passenger ferry in New Zealand. After such an early start we spent most of the initial part of the journey catching up on some sleep, but once the ferry started to move into Marlborough Sounds with its spectacular scenary and lush green backdrop we moved up onto deck to take a look. It was a brief look though since the weather hadn’t exactly warmed up since yesterday! ...