On to the South

Hard to believe but today marks the one month period since our the start of our sailing trip so long ago and six weeks since we left Canada!

We got up early this morning to go up to the Mount Victoria lookout and admired the view of the city. The radio played a song called "Nothing beats a nice day in Wellington" and indeed it was a very nice day out.

We then checked in at the ferry terminal where we left our car and went over to the famous Te Papa Museum for a couple of hours before our ferry departure.

We encountered a talkative host who told us about his children and grandchildren and how they were all either living in the US or Australia because they made much better living there.

The museum itself was very good and because we were limited on time, we only got to see a couple of exhibits.

The ferry crossing was uneventful and before long we were cruising in Marlborough Sound, a beautiful sight to welcome us to South Island.

Our first stop was Picton iSite where they were very helpful in assisting us with planning our next few days in the Marlborough and Abel Tasman National Park area. With a general sense of our itinerary, we drove to Blenheim just a half hour away, a town of about 20,000 to stay for the night.

My first impressions of South Island is that it seems bigger. Maybe because it is rumored to have a lot more things to see and do, and also because the mountains are larger and waiting in the backdrop as opposed to the smaller green hills of North Island. So far the weather has been great with sunny skies, but the cool wind still posters. Accommodations are more expensive. Our motel tonight is $112 and the $70 places we were used to didn't exist. It could be because we are in wine region though.

In the evening, we ate Pizza Hut, watched Shutter Island on tv and made plans for vineyard tours tomorrow and Abel Tasman the next few days which should be nice.