After three weeks on the South Island the time had finally come for me to cross over to the north. I had a flight out of Auckland a week later and did not want to rush to get there, but rather see a few places along the way. So I got to Picton, a small harbor town, to then cross the Cook Strait the next day. The first hour of the three-hour ferry ride took us through the beautiful Marlborough Sound, past idyllic cabins, forested hills and rugged cliffs.
Then there came a stretch across open sea, before we turned a corner and saw the lights of a big city: Wellington. Much bigger and more culturally diverse than any city on the South Island it has still managed to retain a friendly atmosphere, although being the country’s capital.
The museum (“Te Papa”) was quite interesting, but otherwise I did not want to spend a whole lot of time in the city, so I continued on, northward…
