Time for a tramp before the boat

This is our last day of our trip round the North Island and we have time to fit in a bit of a walk this morning before we catch the Interislander ferry this afternoon.

Unfortunately Ann has to work but John takes us out for a tramp in the nearby regional park.  We have an very enjoyable walk with John even if our little legs had to take double strides just to keep up!

We then have a chance to fold out our big NZ map and look through our North Island actual route

and also talk through the proposed route that Kelvin had planned for the South Island.  John was in awe of Kelvin's route and was apologetic that he couldn't add any better suggestions ;)

Very quickly our time in Ann and John's lovely home has come to an end and we need to get back on the road on Betty again.  We make our way to the ferry terminal and watch our boat coming in to take us to Picton on the South Island.

The Aratere coming in to Wellington Harbour

Thankfully we have a fairly smooth crossing of the Cook Strait with only a 2  or 3m swell and Mrs M even manages to fall asleep at one point.

From Picton it is a short drive to Blenheim in the heart of the Marlborough wine district and the start of our South Island adventure.

Mr M