(16) Tuesday, February 11th: having paid our bill last night, we are able to depart the hotel at 7am, disturbing several rabbits who are quietly grazing. With little traffic at this hour we reach the ferry terminal within half-an-hour. At 9am, we park the Mondeo on Deck 6 of the huge Aruha, then settle into the comfortable Club Class salon (below) to enjoy the coffee and cookies provided

The crossing between New Zealand's North and South Islands is notorious for bad weather due to the meeting of the currents of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. However, the 3-hour trip across Cook Straight to Picton on South Island is smooth on a slight swell

This morning's cloudy weather in Wellington is replaced by brightness as the Arahua  enters the Tory Channel and then Queen Charlotte Sound to approach Picton (above). There were two large liners (Regal Princess and Seven Seas Mariner) in harbour as we left Wellington - in Picton, we find the newly-built residential cruise ship The World.

 

Disembarking at 12:35pm, we drive up Charlotte Road to get a view of The World. A small vintage car is chauffeur driven from the ship with a little old lady waving to the populace in a very regal manner. It is now very hot, the sky is cloudless, and the noise of cicadas is almost deafening

A 35-kilometre scenic drive takes us across the mountains to the small port of Havelock. We make a number of stops to admire the views of the bays and ocean on the slow, winding road, including at Momorangi Bay (above left).

 

In Havelock, we enquire about a boat trip in the harbour to view the mussel beds. The Harbour Master telephones the boat owner, but he is not interested in earning some money - another example of the laid back lifestyle of New Zealanders that we have found so irritating. We admire an example of a Pohutukawa (the New Zealand Christmas Tree - left) before driving on to Nelson.

 

Our objective in Nelson is the geographical centre of New Zealand, which we find after quite a stiff climb out of the town. The centre of New Zealand is marked by a large white pin suspended above the appropriate trig point

Our accommodation for the next two nights is at the Avalon Manor Hotel at Motueka (right), which we reach at 6:15pm. Our 'Executive Studio' room is large, well-equipped, and has a balcony. The proprietors are from Somerset and, fortunately, have a much more positive attitude to tourism than the Liverpudlians at Cook's Lookout Motel.

It is hot and humid as we walk along the town's main street to the Grape & Grain where we have a delightful (but slowly-served) meal of seafood cocktails; lamb shanks; and desserts - all accompanied by a bottle of Chardonnay

 

Our two-night stop at Motueka on the north coast of South Island gives us the opportunity to explore the nearby Abel Tasman National Park. This we plan to do by way of a 'Cruise & Walk' trip which we book at the hotel before having breakfast on our balcony. We then drive 14-kilometres to Kaiteriteri to board the Explorer, after we are ferried out to it in a small power boat

Explorer heads north, closely following the shoreline to pass Honeymoon Bay and Ngaio Bay to reach the appropriately named Split Apple Rock (right)

The boat follows the shoreline farther north to view the fur seals on Tonga Island and Abel Head before turning back to Bark Bay where we have to wade ashore

Once ashore, we wash and dry our feet, replace our walking boots, only to find that we need to cross a stream to get off the beach - with wet boots we commence the walk to Torrent Bay, a distance of about 4-kilometres

The walk is along a well-constructed path, mostly in shade due to the thick vegetation and tall trees. There are splendid views of the coastline and its beaches, particularly from South Head. When we reach the Falls River, this is crossed by means of a rope swing bridge