Picton

Ferry to Picton

Checked-out early and headed across the street to the train station where there's a free bus to the Interislander ferry terminal. The bus is super convenient, but across the other street from the hostel is the ferry terminal for Bluebridge. If the times had worked out, we would have taken Bluebridge. It's a tiny bit cheaper.

Packing up early

Clever Mike asked at the reception desk last night and they let him know where/when the bus is (8:10 am) and also that the front desk gets mobbed with check-outs beginning at 7:58 am. So we made sure to be early. It also meant we were first in the bus, which was nice. Not that it filled up, though. 

Checking-in for the ferry is really easy. They make it clear in multiple places which desk you should go to if you have luggage and which to go to if you don't. 

Boarding the Kaitaki

The ferry we took is fancy! After having our hot brekkie that we'd prebooked ($14.50 online vs $18 if you purchase onboard), we wandered the ship to see all the spaces. It didn't really take long. There's a bar, a cafe, some kid stuff, a very little gift shop. There are private cabins, too, and the premium lounges, but we didn't see any of those. 

About an hour into the trip, we settled ourselves in the recliner lounge for the remainder of the 4-hour cruise and were even lucky enough to get window seats. Mike got himself set up in the window with the GoPro. It's been fun playing with the thing. Just frustrating when we're meant to be driving and it's not letting itself get setup in the right position.

The crossing to the South Island was really gorgeous. It got me even more excited for the hike! Picton is a bit inset, so to get there, the ship goes through the Tory Channel and Queen Charlotte Sound. Above us, since we were looking starboard (right), we could see parts of where we'll be hiking, we think. This is one of the few old growth native forests left in the country. 

Pulling into Picton

Picton 

It wasn't long before we docked in Picton. We walked to the hotel with our big roller bags, but it was easy. It was only about 15 minutes, and that's with stopping for photos and reading placards. 

Not penguins

The Beachcomber Inn is definitely the nicest place we've stayed so far. Roomy, clean, patio, view of the water, not horrible wifi; and since we're on the ground floor, our patio opens onto a big shared lawn which is nicer than it sounds. 

We put our things down and wandered into town. It's about three or four blocks of restaurants, cafes, shops, and tourism agencies. We took photos in the park, got dinner recommendations​ from the i-Site, brainstormed GoPro mounting ideas in the hardware store, and went back to the hotel to test some ideas out. We ended up Macguyvering a mount on Mike's backpack with a hair tie and a twisty tie. I think this will work!

Then we struck out again and got to the free whaling museum just when I got a voicemail from Wilderness Guides, the company organizing our trek. They call it trekking here, not hiking. So we didn't get far at the museum. It's a small museum anyway. We'll probably have time for it when we get back. We went around the building to the WG office and even though we were early, since i guess we are the only trekkers starting tomorrow, we started orientation. She simply went over the map with us, day by day, and told us all the information and instructions we would need, then gave us said map and information. She also gave us our track passes, which are needed because some of the track is on private property; luggage tags, so the bags get to the right rooms every night; and water taxi tickets. 

We went straight to dinner so we could sit and go over the papers to make sure we had everything straight. We had dinner at The Barn, as recommended by the i-Site staffer. It was fantastic! Mike was surprised how good it was. It looks like a casual place that maybe serves pub food decently. The food that came out was unlike pub food. Mike's stuffed pork belly was amazing. We each had a Tui beer, which is brewed in Mangatainoka, on the North Island. I liked it. Mike says it was fine. 

Tui beers

Super delicious dinner

Stuffed pork belly

Lamb shank

We then attempted to buy savory pies at a place we'd seen open earlier. Wish we'd bought them then. Not sure what we'll do for breakfast since we're getting picked up at 8:30 and going to the track. 

Back at the room, we rearranged all our luggage and prepped our trail packs. We're ready! I'm so excited. I've never done this before. It'll be fun! Catch you from the No Road Inn tomorrow!