South Island , Picton to Nelson

The ride over on the Interislander ferry was beautiful! We had a clear, sunny, warm day for our journey from Wellington, across the Cook Strait into the Tory Sound and down the Queen Charlotte Sound. Rory and I saw a couple of little penguins swimming near the boat, otherwise we saw coves and bays and hills of green framing the blue of the sounds. We arrived in Picton and headed west, stopping at a little campsite called Aussie Bay for our first night, right on the water. The next day we headed further west and camped on the Pelorus River. This was a gorgeous green river with great swimming holes with little rapids to boogie board down and smooth granite rocks to jump off! There was a little waterfall we swam under that will be in the next Hobbit movie when it comes out! This was also our introduction to sand flies - tiny like blackflies of Ontario only nastier! We hit Nelson on a Saturday which made me very happy - Saturday Markets! Rory and I wandered around the booths while Liam visited the library and Nigel explored the town.