18.02.2020 Half way through the trip - on the other side..

I can't believe that I am halfway through my trip but looking forward to the South Island and having a travelling companion. We took the ferry to Picton, yesterday after giving Maureen a whistle stop tour of the waterfront in the pouring rain. The rain persisted and the journey through Queen Charlotte Sound was grey and cloudy but no less stunning than I had imagined...

Picked up the replacement hire car - Hertz don't allow you to ship your vehicle on the ferry from North Island to South Island., found our motel quite easily and headed out to find dinner. It had been a long day so an early night for both of us.

This morning the sun was out again, the sky was blue and the water in the sound a magical turquoise colour. I took off on my first hike. Looked like a fairly easy couple of hours trek from Picton Bay to Waikawa Bay. But, as usual, I never do things the easy way and when I spotted the Scout Trak heading up from the bay to the ridge I though I would give it a go and as a bonus would have great views. About one third of the way up I thought - "seriously Denise - you are a bit slow for this and remembered "know your limits".. Made it thought and was rewarded with fabulous views over the sound to Shakespeares Bay, into Picton harbour and Brown's Bay. Funniest thing I saw was a motor boat pulling 4 small sailing dinghies????? Couldn't work out what that was all about. A beautiful start to the South Island - Picton is not just a place to pass through -stop and take a look around and meet the people..

Hope you enjoy my first experiences of the next stage of my journey...