Wellington to Christchurch, New Zealand

We left Wellington early the next morning on board the Interislander Ferry, bound for Picton on the northern tip of the South Island. It was a cool and grey morning, with gusty winds blowing (no wonder they called it "Windy Wellington"!). That said, the weather conditions made the ferry journey a less-than pleasant experience, especially when we got to the open waters. The ferry itself was huge (room for up to 1600 passengers and 600 cars), but it could not steadily withstand the winds and rough waters, which made for a very bumpy ride at times. As for the surrounding scenery, because it was a grey and overcast day, the scenery wasn't as spectacular as it might have been. The ferry ride was just over 3 hours, covering a distance of 92 kilometres. We (or rather Sam) were very happy when we finally reached Picton, located in Queen Charlotte Sound and disembarked from the ferry.

After we arrived in Picton and disembarked from the ferry, we took a short walk to the train station where we boarded a Tranz Scenic train bound for Christchurch. Fortunately the weather in Picton was a vast improvement over the weather in Wellington, as it was much warmer and sunnier, and there were no winds ! The train ride was over 5 hours and in that time we traveled through 22 tunnels and over 175 bridges. The scenery was breathtaking as we traveled past farmlands; vineyards; the Kaikoura Mountain ranges and along the Pacific ocean coastline. It was a perfect introduction to the beautiful scenery that we would encounter on the South Island in the days to come.

Christchurch
We arrived in Christchurch in the late afternoon and had enough time to walk around Cathedral Square and parts of the city centre. Christchurch is the South Island's biggest city and is known as the Garden City. We stayed overnight in Christchurch and then collected our rental car early the next morning, before setting off on our journey to explore the West Coast of the South Island.