January 14th, South Island Bound

Yesterday we rode the ferry from Wellington (the capital of NZ) down to the tip of the South Island. Our ferry landed in Picton, a small scenic city in the Queen Charlotte Sound / Islands. What a fabulous 3 hour ferry ride, the sun was shinning and the sound was beautiful. The Queen Charlotte Sound reminds me a bit of the San Juans, but about 10-15 times larger and a little dryer. Just outside of Picton we entered a very dry region similar to Eastern Wa. (Because of this, we all decided that if we took a picture of the roadside and surrounding hills, no one would really know that we were so far from home.) We were pleasantly surprise when drove into a town called Blenheim and realized that we were in the heart of NZ Wine Country. Move over Nappa! More than 30 wineries graced the valley as we travelled down the South Island's East Coast. We ended up visiting a few wineries in route to Kaikoura. As we headed down the East coast the scenery was absolutely stunning, a cross between Central California Coast, Eastern Washington and the turquoise waters of the South Pacific Islands. Kaikoura is absolutely beautiful and stunning - 7-10 thousand foot peaks to the West and the pacific banging on the coast to the East. They can actually grow lemons, apricots and oranges here because of the high percentage of sunshine, yet the mountains are green and the valley is still lush. This has to be one of the most stunning and beautiful places I've ever seen! Plus, there are still very few people, and only a couple small towns. If this place was back home, it would be spoiled by big buildings, resorts and tons of tourism. This stop has blown me away. Fun fact: "Kaikoura" means Crayfish. They serve a lot of these little babies at seaside food stands throughout the city. Curt