On Tuesday,  we flew from Auckland to Wellington, the capitol of New Zealand.  The following morning,  we took the Interislander Ferry from Wellington across the Cooks Strait to Picton (the northern most tip of the South Island).   The Cooks Strait connects the Tasman Sea with the South Pacific Ocean.  We were shocked at the size of the ferry; as, it holds over 1500 passengers as well as numerous cars, trucks, etc.   The trip is often hailed as one of the most beautiful ferry trips in the world.  Unfortunately, it was raining and foggy the entire 3 1/2 hour trip.  Well… can’t win them all.

We then drove 4+ hours from Picton to Christchurch, the 2nd largest city in NZ.   This was the first time David had driven on the left side of the road.  Although David is usually an excellent U.S. driver,  he initially acted like he was a first-time driver!  At first, it was “kind of” hilarious watching him struggle to drive on the “wrong” side of  road.  After we had a near miss (not that close!) when David had a memory lapse and veered off to the right side of the road, it wasn’t so funny!   Unfortunately, Lesley could not go into her usual sleep mode while driving and had to be keenly aware of making sure we were always on the correct side of the road.  The drive along the coast was stunningly beautiful and the farmland is extensive.  Cows, sheep, deer & reindeer abound.  We stopped and walked 10 minutes up a stream to a beautiful waterfall.  The unusual item about this waterfall is that seal pups swim upstream from the ocean to the pool beneath the falls.  One seal pup was there when we arrived and we watched one come up stream while we were there.  These were ambitious pups – it is a long and rocky stream.  We still don’t know why they do it – unless it is just to get away from the old folks!

Other views along the way were quite beautiful including the Southern Alps with lots of snow as well as much of the coastline.  The water is a beautiful blue – similar to glacier water in Montana & Canada.