One night in Christchurch then up at 5.45am the next morning to get the 7am train to Picton. We travelled KiwiRail on the coastal pacific route, one of three great train journeys in New Zealand. The journey follows a very scenic route to the north of the south island, with the pacific ocean on the right and mountain ranges on the left. To get a better look the train also had an outdoor viewing carriage. The 5hour trip went very quickly.

We were feeling tired and the need to settle in one place so we stayed in Picton for 3days (top of the south island). The town is very picturesque and quiet, with beautiful views out to the sound, and also provides the ferry link to Wellington.

I stayed in the Picton Lodge Backpackers, the quietest hostel I have ever seen. It felt more like staying in an elderly person's house with the original 70s carpets and furniture. At 10pm everybody was in bed and I had a dorm to myself for 2 nights. It provided the perfect place to catch up on some sleep and try shake the cold I had.

We did very little in Picton, expect looking around the town, making travel arrangements for the north island and using the local community gym (3 sessions in 3 days!). During travelling I've learnt the value of having a few quiet days to get some energy back, otherwise moving around so much can lose its appeal.   

After 3 days we boarded the ferry for Wellington (north island). The ferry was huge and the best ferry journey I've been on. They had a bar with a local musician (Amiria Grenell) playing acoustic music and we saw a whale surfacing, followed by a school of dolphins swimming alongside the ferry.

We were in Wellington less than 24hours so didn't see a huge amount. I cooked a huge steak dinner in the evening (steak is cheap here) and the next morning we had a short walk around the marina and centre of town. After this we were back on the road with a 6hour coach ride up to Torangi, middle of the north island.