Queen Charlotte Drive to Portage

Queen Charlotte Drive runs between Havelock and Picton. This road has been described as being "like cruising the Marlborough Sounds without a boat". It's a scenic coastal drive that twists and turns uphill and down. There are numerous hairpin corners and it's narrow in places. But the views are worth it. Near the Havelock end is a turn off to go north out to Portage, so we decided to explore.
Note: we had unhitched the rig and left it at Picton when we went on this day trip.

There are numerous bays all along the way, and yachts and boats moored in most of them.

Sometimes, all you can see is glimpses through the trees and bush.

At other times you can get right down to the water.

A lot of people live around these sounds.

Forestry is one of the industries in this area.

A road we could not go down, with a gate across the road, attached to a tree trunk.

Eventually (this is on the Portage road), we arrived at Te Mahia, where we allowed ourselves to be tempted off the road with promises of caffiene! There was a lovely deck down by the water near the Te Mahia Resort where we sat and enjoyed our coffee.

We were not allowed in the actual resort, but it looked rather interesting.

Further along the road was a wharf . . .

. . . and from it you could see the front of the resort as well as other homes in the area.

Just a couple of the pleasure craft moored in the bay.

On this point at Te Mahia, the sea seems to be reclaiming the land. Some of the cliff is crumbling away, and trees near the edge are threatened.

I would say this young pine's days are numbered. It's surprising it manages to continue to cling to the edge with so much of its root system exposed.

 Back on the road again, continuing towards Portage.

Fifteen minutes further on from Te Mahia we arrived at Portage.  

Not the end of the road, but as far as we intended to go.

The wharf has a marina at the end that is closed for renovations.

There's hotel accommodation available here and homes nestled in against the hills.

Leaving Portage and heading back to Picton, these next photos are all taken from various spots along Queen Charlotte Drive.

This looks like a private beach that cannot be seen until you get out of the car and walk to the edge of the bank. I'm not sure how to get down to here, but there must be a road somewhere.

 There are a lot of beehives around this area. There's a lot of manuka too, which explains the hives. At one place we stopped, I noticed these hives just through the trees.

Approaching Picton, here we're overlooking Shakespeare Bay, with Picton Harbour in the distance past the logs. The next photo gives a closer view.

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Crossing Cook Strait

On the day we were due to cross Cook Strait, we left Plimmerton quite early—just before 6:30am. I’d thought this was possibly a bit of overkill for an approx. half-hour drive when we didn’t need to book in until 8am, but . . .  Dave was right. We arrived early (of course) and checked in straight away—not too much waiting (which is the one of the benefits of getting there early).

The girl checking us in told us we should have been stopped before we'd gotten as far as we had and directed us to where we were meant to be. Or she tried to.

We eventually found a helpful man in an orange high-viz vest that opened a gate to let us through so we were right at the front of a queue, ready to board.

Apparently, as we were a bit large, someone should have pulled us over before we’d gone down the lane following all the motorhomes . . .

Dave had met a lovely couple (Graeme and Maria) back at the Plimmerton NZMCA. They (and their dog Ruby) came over to chat with us as we waited for boarding to commence.

There were about 140 bikes to go on first. The annual Bert Munro Challenge—the largest motorcycle rally in the southern hemisphere—was being held in Invercargill later that week.

Before too long, it was our turn. One of the reasons we chose to go with the Interislander was because you could drive in one end and out the other—no turning around. This is possible with two of their ships: the Kaitaki and the Kaiarahi. We were on the Kaitaki. We’ve recently been told that travelling over on the Bluebridge is significantly cheaper so we will check that out the next time we cross over between the islands.

The crossing from Wellington to Picton takes 3.5 hours. This would be from 9:00am when we were due to sail. It was now 8:00am-ish and that would mean probably 4.5 hours before we got to return to our vehicles. We were I was a bit nervous about leaving Lucy alone for so long, but we didn’t have a lot of choice. I gave her a treat, with another one for her to find later on my seat, and headed upstairs. No doubt she demolished them both within the next five minutes.

Coffee and breakfast were calling. We found a table and, after our new friends joined us, Dave went off to order our breakfast. I’d hope to pop back down to check on Lucy before we sailed but they obviously lock the doors to the vehicle decks before 8:50am.

Before much longer we were moving, and I headed outside—where it was VERY windy—to take some photos.

Leaving Wellington.

That’s the North Island in the distance. And some of the vehicles on the deck below. We were parked under cover on a lower deck.

We’d been assured that a northerly wind is okay—it's the southerlies that cause choppy seas—and the wind was coming from the north today. Although it was extremely windy the entire crossing, the seas were calm. Many people braved the wind to enjoy the views. This is approaching the South Island.

In a short space of time we were entering the Marlborough Sounds.

 I believe this is a salmon farm.

 

Houses along the way where people live with up-close views of the Sounds.

Does it look like black goats on their front lawn?

There were plenty of others enjoying the Sounds.

Interesting artwork on the side of this boat.

Dave pointed out a seal, but by the time I managed to focus on it, it was just a black blob in the water. Then we saw dolphins! They're not as easy to photograph as I’d imagined. You find them in the viewfinder, zoom in, focus . . . and then they’re gone! This was all I managed to get. At least they’re recognisable!

We passed the other Interisland ferry, the Kaiarahi, heading for Wellington.

This is Waikawa Bay . . .

. . .  and as we rounded a corner, we could see our destination, Picton.

As soon as we were allowed, we went back down to the vehicle decks to greet Lucy. Both treats had been devoured, and although she was happy to see us, she wasn’t at all distressed. What a relief.

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