Pathway To Dawn

Monday 9 March 2015.

“Arahura” in Maori means “Pathway to dawn.” Arahura is the name of the 148-metre13,600 ton InterIslander ferry which we boarded and left Wellington at 10:30am, bound on a 92-km trip to Picton on New Zealand’s South Island.

First things first, so we toddled along to the food court for a traditional bacon and egg breakfast. Tasted good. Then we sit back for the next three hours ten minutes for the cross-straight crossing. Outside on the deck, the air is surprisingly pleasant, as opposed to the icy experience I seem to recollect back in 2011.

Shortly after loading the vehicles and departing from the terminal, we leave the safe waters of Wellington Harbour Bay by passing through the heads of Pencarrow Head (the oldest lighthouse in NZ 1859) and Barrett Point. Thereafter, we leave the North Island waters and travel in a north-westerly direction, headed for Whekenui Bay, where according to Maori tradition, the great explorer Kupe killed the giant octopus he had pursued across the ocean to New Zealand.

Along the top of the South Island, we go through the Tory Channel and Cook’s Lookout (the straight between the two islands was named in 1770 after Captain Cook.  The strait is known to the Maori as Raukawa, which was previously found by explorer Abel Tasman, who mistook it for an inlet in 1642. The narrowest part is 22km wide.

As we round Dieffenbach Point, we steer slightly left-ish and enter the Queen Charlotte Sound, which is one of New Zealand’s most popular holiday areas. Straight ahead lies our destination, the ferry port of Picton.

A new and different view of the coastlines around each bend…

One last lesson in Maori translation: North Island = Te Ika A Maui and South Island =TeWai Pounamu

This is a notation for personal reference only:  Day 1 (Mon 9): Depart Wellington 10:30 on InterIslander Arahura, arriving Picton 13:40. Drive through Tuamarina 2:00pm, Spring Creek, Grovetown, Blenheim, Seddon (2:30pm), Ward (2:45pm), Kaikoura (at this point the mileage stood at 72,257), Goose Bay (4:15pm), Parnassus, Cheviot (5:00pm), Domett, Waipara, Amberly (5:45pm), Waikuku Beach, Woodend (6:00pm) and Kaiapoi to Christchurch (6:30pm). Sleep over on Monday night at the Earnslaw Motel at 288 Blenheim Road, Riccarton 03 348 6387. The mileage at this point reads 72,448 which is 408km from Waikanae and 191 from Kaikoura.

(Above):The road between Picton and Christchurch is long, but varied. The road surface, sign-posting and road markings are of the highest standards. The only drawback is the maximum speed anywhere is 100, and through towns the limit drops down to80 and then 50 through the built-up sections… We passed one red patrol car parked on the side of the road.

(Above): Jeanette shares a joke on one of our mandatory 10-minute stops. Something about the wind likely to blow me away…Taken on the rocks close to the highway just north of Kaikoura.

(Above): So-o-o… It wasn’t a joke: the wind certainly knows how to blow along that stretch!

We find the Earnslaw in Blenheim Road without any fuss. The lady at reception proves to be friendly and helpful,although the passcode for the WiFi doesn’t seem to give me full Internet access, so this post will have to wait…