Going back to the north island turned out to be an extraordinary and very pleasant experience for us all.

Waiting our turn:

After leaving the town of Nelson, we landed up in the harbour of Picton in the later part of the afternoon.

We lined up our cars for boarding the ferry, while it was still sunny and warm. It was somewhat tiring sitting in our cars waiting for so long. So we would get out our car every now and again and walk up and down next to the other cars also queuing.

Walking up and down on gravel with no shade got uncomfortable too because the sun was unrelenting. So we would take turns popping in and our cars, trying to avoid the heat of the sun. We repeated this transitional act several times, back and forth for what seems hours and hours.

What a load!!

And when it was time to load up the ferry, we first watched the bigger vehicles been moved onto the ferry. And let me tell you these ferries between the north and south islands of New Zealand aren’t little tiny boats… they are huge, and unbelievably massive.

hey have to be. They not only carry cars, but they carry huge trucks and trains. You got it… trains with their trucks. This fact blew my husband’s mind, to see these enormously hefty things been shunted onto the ferry, and one after the other!

Once on the ferry:

When it’s your turn to drive on, you are guided in, lined up and docked into place. Your car’s wheels are clamped into place securely. And so you realize the trains also were locked securely into place too… Well…

Not so, evidently… sometimes things can go wrong.

A few months after been back in South Africa, we heard about one of those ferries having lost a train in very heavy seas. It’s a mind boggling thought…

It must have been much worse than what we experienced that particular day as we travelled back to Wellington harbour. We could feel the big waves force the ship to climb and roll down with every wave.

In your mind you tell yourself, the people` running the show’ must know what they are about. So you don’t worry too much. You just enjoy the thrill of the experience.

The scenes we saw:

While travelling through the fiord canals before hitting the open sea, the water was fairly calm peaceful though.

Our son and I took these photos of the ford mountain ranges and islands:

Aren’t they beautiful with the last of the sun rays caressing them?

Any houses you see nestled on steep mountain sides (making roads impossible) close to the water edge, gives you the impression that the people living in them must have their own boats, to independently go out shopping, etc, to comfortably live there, far away and isolated from any big cities.

Then out to sea:

The sun was setting by the time we came out to the open sea. We tried to take photos of the sun setting, but it was very difficult with the rolling of the boat. Anyway, I thought it would be fantastic if I could paint that experience. So here is the oil painting I’ve done, of the sun setting over the Tasman Sea:

It was dark by the time we got to Wellington harbour:

And very late that night, by the time we got back to our grandson’s house in Palmerston North. Quickly unloading our cars, etc., we were glad to find our beds and fall happily to sleep.

I still have more to show you of the north island, so stick around to see what else we did and saw…

ellianaa