On the road at nine, the steep uphill out of the Sounds is a good way to start the day. It’s cloudy today, looking like rain, which is a welcome change to the hot sunny days.
The first part of the road is flat, until I reach the The Grove Arm and the road starts following the steep shoreline. The view into the small bays is nice and I’ve got plenty of time until my ferry leaves at 2 p.m.
I arrive in Picton getting a good view on the harbour from the coastal hills. A ferry is just leaving as I roll down into town.
I spend the time at the harbour park and get some of Picton’s apparently best Fish’n’Chips (they are good, but not amazing).
Then it’s boarding time or at least ‘check-in then wait almost an hour for boarding’ time. As the only cyclist I follow the passenger shuttle bus and walk on with the foot-passengers. I store my bike securely in a space at the side of the ship.
As we leave the South Island through Queen Charlotte Sound the clouds get thinner. By the time we reach the open sea the sun is burning hotly once again.
Three and a half hours later we arrive at Wellington harbour.
Later, I go out to enjoy the evening atmosphere at the harbour. Wellington has some interesting architecture, quite of lot of which draws inspiration from naval shapes.
