Ferry to Wellington

     On Tuesday, November 6th we left the sunny skies of Nelson to head north to Picton where we boarded the Interislander Ferry across Queen Charlotte Sound to Cook Strait to Wellington on the North Island. We had calm seas, so the crossing only took about 3 hours. It felt pretty much like being on a Washington State or British Columbia ferry.

Wellington coming into view.



      (A bit of history... The Dutch explorer, Abel Tasman, was the first European to discover New Zealand. In 1642 he arrived in Cook Strait, but incorrectly thought it was only an inlet. He did not realize that New Zealand was composed of two separate islands. He also never set foot on New Zealand soil. The first European to do that was Captain James Cook in 1770 on his first voyage aboard The Endeavor, in which he circumnavigated the North Island. In all, Captain Cook made three trips to New Zealand.)
     Wellington is the current capital of New Zealand, and I wish we could have had a bit more time to explore it. While Nelson is known for its sunshine, Wellington is known for its wind, being nicknamed "Windy Wellington." Our tour guide, David, told us the sad tale of a young man who in the late 1800s was strolling down the street one day when the wind suddenly picked up. A gust so powerful lifted a ship out of the water and the poor man was struck and killed by a flying boat! Windy Wellington lived up to its name while we were there and dampened our spirits for doing too much walking about town. But we did enjoy a bus tour and could get a taste of what a lovely city it is.


View from Mount Victoria

Famed "Beehive" federal office building.

     We also drove by Wellington's beautiful Botanical Gardens and its charming Cable Car. And we were sorry we didn't have time to visit the Te Papa museum, which looked terrific. But this is our introductory, survey trip, so we are scouting out places to return to next time!