Back to the North Island

One of the beautiful serene coastline views along on a South Island highway

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After leaving Christchurch, we drove along the upper eastern coastline of the South Island to Picton (where the ferry terminal is). Part of the drive is called the 'lonely road' since it follows along a winding rocky coastline and there are no towns along the way. It may be a ‘lonely’ drive but we saw seals resting on rocks, surfers riding the waves, and lots of birdlife. In Kiakoura, we thought about going out on a boat trip to see the sperm whales, but the winds were up and the

trip would have been rough. So, we not only saved some money in not going, but also did not get seasick. Maybe we can see the whales some other time.

We had mixed feelings as we were preparing to leave the South Island with so many great memories of:
· Numerous birds (including the fascinating yellow eyed and blue penguins)
· Glaciers
· Beautiful green rainforests
· Great coastlines
· Stewart Island (off the southern coast of the South Island)
· The bustling city life in Dunedin and Christchurch
· The Trans Alpine train ride from Christchurch across the Southern Alps to Greymouth on the west coast and back, and
· Millions of sheep in their paddocks

Today we showed up at the ferry in the morning only to find out that our reservation was not in their system correctly and the ferry was full. Fortunately, we could get on the next sailing in 4 hours. This turned out to be a good thing since the drizzle and fog lifted in the afternoon and we were on the nicest boat in the ferry fleet. We were also able to see an additional lighthouse in the distance (which we surely would have missed on the morning crossing). After a relatively smooth journey we landed in Wellington in late afternoon and started the drive up the western coastline of the North Island on our way eventually ending up inAuckland.

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One of the many groups of bagpipers in their colorful tartans practicing for competiton in a Christchurch park.

<- Cattle Guard highway sign


Railroad Warning highway sign ->

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Rocky coastline along the ‘lonely road' between Kiakoura and Picton.

Sometimes the path to take a photo of a lighthouse requires a little work to get there. The directions to get to the Cape Campbell lighthouse said that it was a ‘short walk’ along the beach (if the tides were right). Well, I tried to go there at high tide and these are the rocks that I had to climb over to get there. Even after getting past these it was a long walk just to get a good view. Still couldn’t get all the way to the lighthouse, but did get a good photo.