30th December, and the time to leave the South Island and head North. A very early alarm call as we had a 45 minute drive to get to Picton to catch the ferry. And guess what – the car hire firm had booked us on the wrong ferry (actually one going the other way!). Fortunately, some of us have a propensity for arriving places quite a bit earlier than we need to, so luckily we were able to identify the problem, buy a proper ticket and still have time to catch the ferry. A bill will be winging its way to the car hire firm in dire course.
Meanwhile a quick view of Picton and a last view of the Sounds.
Arrived in Wellington and the start of a very long (5 hour) drive to Napier. Very little to report – stopped for lunch in a typical town (Dannevirke) which is in the middle of nowhere. While Eileen and Jo were buying stuff I happened to look in an estate agents window and saw a 4 bed bungalow for £65,000!
Even in the middle of nowhere, Aon appears.
Arrive Napier to a beautiful art-deco house.
But a quick turnaround as we had been invited to the house of one of Jo’s friend’s parents for dinner. They took us up to their local beauty spot to catch the sunset – fabulous.
