From Nelson we drove to Picton. The last part of the road was so winding we almost throw up. When we arrived to the city center, we saw Nir, an Israeli guy we met at Arthur's Pass. It's nice to see familiar faces in unfamiliar places.
Picton is a nice small town. The main attraction around it is the Queen Charlotte track, and of course - the ferry to the north island of New Zealand.
It takes 3 days to walk the entire track, we chose to walk on the first 2 days because we were told that the views don't change much along the track.
To get to the start of the track, you need to use a water taxi. After barging with all the water taxis companies in Picton we picked the cheapest one and on the next day sailed to the beginning of the track. A nice thing about this track, all the water taxi companies will transfer your packs to your campsite each day, and on the last day will take the packs back to Picton. You walk the track with just a small backpack and all your equipment will wait for you on the camping ground.
We started walking at first day energetic and happy, specially because all we carry on our back was a small backpack, but as the time passed we became tired from the long walk and from watching all the luxury lodges and resorts along the way. Each one of them had a fancy bar, a fancy restaurant and splendid rooms. After seeing a resort like this, who wants to keep walking?
After about 5 hours we finally finished the 26km of walk and our backpacks waited for us near the camping ground. The first day was nice, but doesn't worth the effort of the long walk.
At the camping ground besides us there were 7 more Israelis camping there. One of the Israelis was Roi's ex-boss (Ronen) daughter. Such a small New Zealand.
The second day was supposed to be better, but as the time passed we found out it wasn't as impressive as we thought it will be.
A light rain started at the last hour of our walk. We were quite exhausted by that time, all we cared about is getting to the wharf and wait to the boat.
Finally we finished the 26km of the second day, with sour feet, just to find out we need to wait 3 hours for the boat. At least there was a shelter there, so we could hide from the rain which became heavier as time passed. The boat arrived and we returned to Picton.
The next thing we did was saying goodbye to the south island of New Zealand and took the ferry to Wellington.
Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, and for us that means a modern big city with lots of cafes, bars, shops, people etc. When we first arrived to Wellington we were a bit disappointed. We couldn't find a free parking space for the car, the hostel we booked was a bit neglected and it was raining. As time passed by and the money in our wallet was given in exchange for food and drinks our mood improved. Finally we had to chance to eat tasty food in cheap prices. We ate Sushi, Bagels, Crepes, Burgers, Beers and more.
A great aperitif for the north island of New Zealand.
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