Lots of Rain on New Zealand’s South Island [Day 8]

posted in: New Zealand 2014 0
Picton Ferry to the South Island
Picton Ferry to the South Island

If you’re thinking of visiting New Zealand in the Fall, prepare for rain. So far it’s been wet for 70% of our trip.

Seeing some sun peeking through on this photo? Correct, that was one of two breaks we got to remind us that there is a sun out there somewhere. It made for a much better ferry ride this morning, as I’m not a big fan of boat-on-ocean situations…

With a 7am departure from Wellington (after a 5:45am check in), we arrived in Picton (South Island) just after 10am, and headed west. A breakfast/brunch stop in one of the wine valleys reminded us of home, except that the grapes are almost all harvested already and leaves are turning! It’s definitely Fall!

Even though it’s autumn down here, it’s still Easter, and the Easter bunny found us despite all the traveling. See one of the photos below.

Highway 63 is a “shortcut” going towards the west coast, first going through vineyards, then following the Wairau River where we pulled over for a little afternoon nap. Moving on, we got to enjoy another break from the rain as we traveled along the Buller River all the way to the coast.

This is where the rain caught up with us again. As we checked into the Seal Cove Campground in Westport, heavy showers alternated with short dry spells. Fun! But the host mentioned that they’ve actually had rather nice weather in the past weeks, so we’ll hope for some of that for tomorrow … Stay tuned!

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