Day 47: The Ferry and Beyond

Welcome to Picton

Due to the changing of seasons here in the southern hemisphere it was decided that it was a wise choice to head to the South Island before the winter weather really settled in. Our adventure to the south island started out on a very rainy and dreary day. After the 3 hour, 92 km voyage from Wellington to Picton on the ferry, which NZ claims is one of the most beautiful ferry rides in the world, we were on the road again on a mission to find our first camp site on the south island, Robin Hood Bay Site. Unfortunately it was cloudy and rainy for the whole ferry ride so I can not attest to the beauty of the ride between the islands. Robin Hood Bay campsite ended up being at the end of an unsealed road, through many bays, with many switch backs to navigate through the torrential downpour, along the Northeastern coast. It is truly amazing how incredibly slow time can go by when you are driving between 20 and 50 km, in the dark, on roads that are bad enough to write home about. As the sun sets and the beautiful scenery disappears, the one thing that begins to consume your mind is, "Are we there yet??". Once again we arrived in the dark to the site, set up camp in the pouring rain and we had no clue what the surrounding environment looked like. Waking up to a cloudy but beautiful sun rise, I discovered that we were in a lovely area right across from a rocky beach. The sound of waves crashing down on the rocks provided a rather unique and relaxing sound. Very different from a sandy beach. It was beautiful. Along with a beautiful view we also discovered that this was home to a sandfly colony. By this time we had figured out the best techniques to avoid the awful bites of the beastly sandflies. These techniques included bug repellent, covering as much skin as possible, and often seeking refuge indoors. Aside from the beastly sandflies, it was a lovely site. 

Off to Blenheim! Blenheim is a town in the heart of Marlborough wine country. It is supposedly one of the sunniest towns in all of New Zealand with an average of 2,438 hours of sunshine a year. Aside from it being one of the sunniest places in NZ, it is also an incredibly beautiful area. There is something just absolutely stunning about vineyards. We ventured to the Blairich Reserve Campsite, driving down roads surrounded by vineyards, spanning across beautiful valleys, tucked between fields of sheep. 

Being in wine country meant that a wine tour of sorts was absolutely in order. Due to the fact that we had a vehicle and both wanted to take advantage of the free wine tasting at the Wither Hills Winery, we parked our trusty wagon, enjoyed a wine tasting and then proceeded to take ourselves on a self guided tour of the vineyard. 

Wandering far enough, jumping fences along the way, we found a aviation museum behind the vineyard.