Picton

I took the Overlander Train to Wellington without mishap. Once in Wellington I took a city bus to the Cambridge Hotel. This was not quite straight forward but there were a few others there with me to figure it out. The Cambridge Hotel is a historic hotel converted to a backpacker. It seemed nice but I wasn't there for long. I arrived at around 8pm and took a shuttle to the Interislander Ferry the next morning at 7am.

The Ferry was huge. It holds something like 900 people and has 10 levels. The crossing to the South Island took around 3 hrs. I sat on the top open air observation deck most of the time. It was a bit chilly but I had plenty of layers so I was fine. It was another blue sky day. The scenery once we entered the Queen Charlotte Sounds was so pretty. I have some pictures but I am not able to upload them here at the Internet Cafe. Some stupid rule about not connecting anything to their computers.

The backpacker that I am staying in here in Picton is called the Sequoia Lodge. It is really nice. My room has an attached bathroom. Everynight they serve a chocolate dessert with ice cream FREE.

I arranged the final details for the Queen Charlotte Track. A company is going to transport my bags each day to my night's lodging. I only have to walk the Track which is between 14 and 23 km each day with a day pack. I will walk the Track in four days ( three nights - Dec 28-30). When I get off the Track I am heading to Nelson (Dec 1) and then on to Marahau (Abel Tasman) (Dec 2) .

This morning I did a warm up hike here in Picton and will finish preparing for the track later today.

I am not sure what the Internet situation will be in the near future. I will post when I can.

Happy Birthday Erica and Austin !