From South to North: the Cook Strait

Leaving New Zealand’s south island, we went to Wellington by ferry. We thought at the beginning that this trip was going to be only for some hours on a boat to reach the north island, but in fact it was a beautiful cruise through the Queen Charlotte Sound and the Cook Strait!

It was time to leave new Zealand’s south island, we were already feeling nostalgic about the 3 weeks that we spent over there and all the beautiful places we discovered but the holidays were nearing its end and it was time to leave. But it wasn’t the end of our trip, as we still had to visit Wellington on the north island and planned to spend some days there before our final departure from New Zealand.

To reach Wellington, you need to take the ferry from Picton (see previous location), it’s a 3-hour trip to New Zealand’s capital city. But it’s not simply a ferry trip, it’s a beautiful cruise through the Queen Charlotte Sound and the Cook Strait!

So, we went on board of the “Arahura” which is not only a ferry for trucks and cars, but also a very comfortable ship to enjoy the trip in the best conditions, with a lounge, bar, and a lot of decks to admire the views during this little cruise! To celebrate the great time we had on the south island, we decided to go for a bottle of sparkling wine and had a great time!

The weather was really beautiful even if the outside temperature was low, the landscapes we came through were simply breathtaking. It was the ideal time to shoot pictures, and of course, the Horizon was the best camera for this!
The first hour of the trip goes through the beautiful Queen Charlotte Sound and it’s as impressing as the many other sounds we saw in this area. After a while, the Arahura changed its direction a bit to follow the Tory Channel.

Then it’s the end of the south island and you enter Cook Strait; you get a strange feeling when you’re in the middle of the Strait as you can see on one side how far away you are from the south island and is now nearing the north island. As the day came to it’s end, we could see the sunset with the fantastic colors over the sea.

It was already dark when we arrived in Wellington and we went directly to our backpackers’ hostel, ready to discover the city the next day. But this will be for another location… ;)

To be continued…

Scritto da vicuna il 2011-01-21 in #luoghi #boat #travel #ferry #sea #cruise #location #new-zealand #north-island #south-island #travel-destination #travel-tips #queen-charlotte-sound