Ferry to the South Island; St. Arnaud & Nelson Lakes National Park

December 29-January 3

Ferry to South Island

It's a 3 1/2 hour ferry ride, some of it over open ocean, from Wellington on the North Island, to Picton, on the South Island:

Waiting to board the ferry

Wellington Harbour

On ferry near Wellington (Looks like the videos won't play, for some reason. Sorry. I will try to fix them)

On ferry looking back toward Wellington

Just off the ferry in Picton, we saw this homemade RV, named Puff Inn.

Bush Hideaway Bach, St. Arnaud, NZ

One of the lessons we quickly learned as we booked apartments in New Zealand is that really nice, self-contained ones were few and expensive. So we were thrilled to find an entire cottage (or Bach, as New Zealanders call them) for a reasonable price available near a National Park not too far from where the ferry landed at Picton. The Bush Hideaway bach, as it was called, was up on a hill outside a small town called St. Arnaud, itself located on Nelson Lake, in Nelson Lakes National Park.
Explanatory note: The word bach, we think, is derived from 'bachelor', like bachelor pad...at least that's what we were told. It's like a basic cabin out in the boonies. We spent 5 nights there and quite enjoyed it. We loved having a full-sized fridge. Most accommodations have bar fridges, which required us to kneel to use the fridge, a literal pain for Leah, with her bum knee, but this was an entire cabin, fully equipped with everything, including a washer and dryer. The deck had a nice view of the countryside, although it was partially blocked by the abundant greenery. And it was quite isolated and very quiet, just the place to spend New Year's eve.

View from the deck of our Bush Hideaway bach

On the deck, apres shower

Coffee on a rainy morning

Leah's knee didn't allow her to hike, but I got to do a 5 mile hike up Mt. Roberts, in Nelson Lakes National Park:

Part way up...

Near the top...

Panorama from near the top...

Video from the top. Nice hike. (Sorry, it looks like this and the other video won't play for reason. Will try to fix.)

Nelson Lake, itself, was quite lovely, and we did some walking around the shore, as well as through a kind of rainforest that led from the town of St. Arnaud to the lake.

At the pier...

Hike partway along the shore...

A kind tourist offered to take our picture.

Rainy (but enjoyable) hike in rainforest near Lake Nelson

Interesting long grass. Such rich texture and colour on an otherwise grey day. I've rarely enjoyed walking in the rain this much.

Here's a photo of a Tui, a small bird that drank the nectar from the flowers that overhung our deck. It sports an interesting iridescent color when the sun hits it directly, and a distinctive white 'ball' on its neck. I spent quite a bit of time watching both the Tuis and the bees that also drank the nectar.

Tui pausing after a drink of nectar

Our checkout day at the Bush Hideaway was now looming, and we began to get excited to move to our next Airbnb, a motorhome in someone's yard near Mapua, NZ, the closest place we could find to Abel Tasman National Park. It is one the premier draws of the South Island. I'll post about that experience next time.

More from New Zealand, North Island, Te Papa and downtown Wellington

Leah reminded me recently that I'd left out several photos from the North Island that we both agree should be included. Now that I'm connected to a reasonably fast and unlimited Internet connection at a Las Vegas library, I can upload them. Here you go:

Click on an image for a larger, more detailed view.

Shakespear Park, near Auckland

Shakespear Park beach, near Auckland

Shakespear Park, near Auckland

Shakespear Park is like High Park, only for Auckland. The park is named after someone other than William, who spelled his name without the e. It's a lovely park on a peninsula on the other side of a bay from Auckland, and features great views from the tops of some of its hills, as well as miles of (empty) beach, as above. We didn't do much walking, as I was still recovering from bronchitis and Leah's knee was still sore. (As I write this on Feb. 12 here in Las Vegas, Leah's knee is much better, but still only about 65%. The whole 8 weeks we were in New Zealand, she could walk only a short way, and then only in pain).


The Essential Garden, our Airbnb tree-top apartment, was owned by a couple who'd cashed out of the Auckland rat race and bought 12 rural acres, where they've established a successful business selling essential oils and herbs, which they grow themselves. Nice flower gardens, too. Here's the herb garden:

Leah in the Essential Garden's herb garden

One day while we strolled the grounds, we came upon this full-sized ram standing in the forest near our apartment:

Click on an image for a larger, more detailed view.

Sculpture of a ram, created by our artist host

As we moved south on the North Island, we stayed at the Te Awanga Vineyard. Here are a couple of photos:

Te Awanga Vineyard apartment

Te Awanga Vineyard apartment

We used the apartment as our base to explore a number of areas on the North Island, including Te Mata Peak, below:

Click on an image for a larger, more detailed view.

Te Mata Peak is about 1200 ft above the sea, which is visible in the distance.

Would be a nice glide!

Part of a walk we did around the top of the peak. 360 degree views. 

We originally chose Te Awanga because it was near Napier, New Zealand, which was rebuilt entirely in Art Deco architectural style, after a devastating earthquake in 1931. I posted some shots in a previous post, but wanted to include a few more--not necessarily all Art Deco:

Click on an image for a larger, more detailed view.

A memorial to the HMS Veronica, which assisted survivors of the 1931 earthquake in Napier, New Zealand

Napier, New Zealand

A fountain commemorating the public service of a Napier man--in a lovely formal park in Napier.

Saw this guy painting a picture...but he was a picture in himself!

Click on an image for a larger, more detailed view.

Painter, Napier, New Zealand

These guys are curious, too.

Came across these flowers in bloom near a Hawkes Bay beach:

Leaving Napier, we moved south again, this time to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, and home to Te Papa Tongarewa, Maori for Museum of New Zealand:

Click on an image for a larger, more detailed view.

Inside the museum

Inside the museum

This ammonite was living 140 million years ago, even before New Zealand split off from Gondwanaland. It's the largest ever found, about 5 ft by 4 ft.

...from the movie Lord of the Rings

Skeleton of giant killer whale (?) hanging from the ceiling.

Te Papa is interesting outside as well as inside:

Click on an image for a larger, more detailed view.

Banner announcing a World War 1 exhibit strung in a giant gap in the exterior of the structure

Add caption

From our stroll around downtown Wellington:

Bronze statue with caption "Solace in the wind". Several people peaked around front to see if his genitals were there. They weren't.

Highly rated...and OK.

Pink attracted to pink. No idea what that quotation means.

On the way up the Wellington Cable Car

At the top...

 Once we got off the cable car, we meandered back downtown through the Wellington Botanical Garden.

Wellington Botanical Garden

Wellington Botanical Garden

Wellington Botanical Garden

Wellington Botanical Garden

Wellington Botanical Garden

Wellington Botanical Garden

Wellington Botanical Garden

Wellington Botanical Garden

Panorama of Wellington from top of Cable Car run.