We had a couple of hours spare before we were to catch the ferry from Picton to Wellington so we took a 35km detour from Picton to Havelock which took us along the Queen Charlotte Drive. As we rounded the first bend a massive cruise liner came into view so naturally we stopped for a nose. Look at how small the coaches alongside the liner look then you can imagine how big it was. We presumed that it was moored in this spot because of its size, there definitely wouldn't have been room for it in either the harbour or the marina. The area was obviously set up for large ships to pick up the logs to transport them to wherever. I'm not sure whether or not I would appreciate being parked next to a working woodyard after paying all that money for a cruise!!
After a small rest on a bench (being a passenger and in charge of navigation is hard work) we set off again. The road was certainly very scenic and had lots of lookout areas which, of course we stopped in, incase we missed something. In one of the small villages about 10km into the drive there was a mobile coffee shop strategically stationed by a car park fronting the water - nice spot to sit and enjoy an ice cream, so tthat's exactly what we did. I had a strawberry thick shake, Steve 2 scoops of ice cream in a cone. When the lady handed him the cone it was obvious that most of it would end up down his t-shirt as there was such a lot of it In the cone, so much that he had to ask for it to be transferred into a cup. (P & C even more than Malia) By the time we had finished our ice creams it was time to head back for the ferry, what should of taken about 30 to 45minutes to do the 35km there and the same to return had taken us about 1 and a half hours to do approx 10km!! The return was made without a stop!
Steves first, and probably his last, contribution to the blog:
You have to kiss an awful lot of frogs before you find the prince and there has been quite a few frogs (long, straight roads) before this one (a windy road that is a more challenging drive)
The ferry crossing was smooth and 3 and a half hours later we were docking in Wellington, North Island.
We spent the night in Wellington and the following morning visited the national museum 'te pa pa' in the city centre. It was fascinating and certainly nothing like the museums I remember visiting as a child. There were an awful lot of interactive displays and lots of short videos and films but as there wasn't a specific path to follow and you were allowed to meander around as you wished we felt you would probably miss quite a lot of things out.
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