Day 29 Wellington to Nelson and Motueka
An early start to catch the ferry from Wellington to South
Island…..3 ½ hours hugging the coastline then crossing the Cook Strait –
notoriously rough, but in the huge ferry….almost a cruise liner with cinemas,
bars, lounges and an atrium…..very smooth.
We arrived in the tiny port town of Picton at noon. There has been talk of moving the ferry port
to Nelson, a much bigger town…..but if they do, I fear Picton would just close
up and die.
We lunched in Picton and then drove on winding coastal
mountain roads to Nelson. As it was Sunday, many of the galleries and shops
were closed, but we did manage to get a new camera (mine could not cope with
all the wet weather over the past 3 days) and a couple of little presents for
our ‘secret Santa’ on Christmas day. We
didn’t make it to the cathedral but heard that there was a competition there
for a Christmas tree made out of the most creative and original
materials…..apparently the one made out of barbecue foods was particularly
spectacular. It is still very odd to us
to equate Christmas with barbecues and summer holidays….now that the weather is
at last warm and sunny, Christmas
carols seem to us very out of place…
We also stopped at the Wearable Arts Museum outside Nelson –
where they display dresses made of 3 steel bands or butterfly wings and
brassieres made out of opossum heads….very odd indeed…but interesting.
More winding mountain roads brought us to our home for the
next 2 nights in Motueka – at the gateway to Abel Tasman National Park. Our
motel here was advertised as ‘basic’, but is in fact superb – balcony, full
kitchen, enormous TV and sound system, spa baths, gardens, DVDs for hire…..no
swimming pool, but the beach is only a short walk away. It’s also nice to stay in the same place for
a couple of nights….if only to do a bit of the laundry!
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