{"id":4487,"date":"2020-03-19T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=4487"},"modified":"2020-03-19T16:08:57","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T20:08:57","slug":"new-zealand-cook-strait-ferry-to-picton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/19\/new-zealand-cook-strait-ferry-to-picton\/","title":{"rendered":"New Zealand: Cook Strait Ferry to Picton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The next morning, we headed to the South Island (see previous New Zealand posts<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two main car\/passenger ferry lines operating between Wellington and Picton; the Interislander<\/a> (which we took), and BlueBridge.<\/a> Both cover the roughly 100km\/60mi route — half on the open waters of the Cook Strait, and half zig-zagging among islands and fjords — in around 3.5 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We’d chosen a mid-day sailing just to make it easy on ourselves. We had a pleasant and unhurried breakfast, and then called for an Uber to take us to the ferry terminal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check in was easy (we’d bought tickets before we left home).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was very windy with scattered rain showers, so it wasn’t a lounge-on-deck kind of crossing. We found some inside seats near the bow, and settled in for the long ride. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between the natural wind and the ship’s forward motion, the wind outside was hold-onto-the-railing-or-else strength, so my photos are mostly through rain-spattered windows. Out in the middle of the Strait, surrounded by showers, there wasn’t much to see anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ship offered limited wi-fi and a scattering of electrical outlets so we kept ourselves entertained during the crossing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s a busy area, so there was more to see as we approached the South Island, and the small town of Picton<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n