It was amazingly sunny again, and Picton looked like nothing like when we had arrived with the ferry in the rain.  A van drove us down Charlotte Dr. where they dropped us off with a kayak.  It was very relaxing to paddle around the stunning Marlborough Sounds.

The sounds from Picton

We saw lots of various birds, sea stars, and lots and lots of blue mussels.  Unfortunately, it was one of those days where my camera decided not to work, and Hendrik didn’t take his kayaking for obvious reasons.  It was lovely, and afterwords we drove to Kaikoura.  It was the same drive we had done on our first day on the southern island and this time it was more gorgeous.

We saw fur seals along the way and once in Kaikoura we walked a bit on the Kaikoura Peninsula where there were pretty views.  It was our last night in New Zealand and the next day we drove to Christchurch airport.

Kaikoura Peninsula

The next day we set off to Nelson.  On the way we stopped by the Punakaiki’s Pancake Rocks which are pictured on too many postcards and in every guidebook.  When Hendrik tried his camera it wouldn’t turn on so he became very frustrated right away.  I then remembered that I had a camera too and should have taken that one on the glacier instead.  Unfortunately, it was very temperamental and randomly refused to work and right now was one of those times.  It only seemed to work when I didn’t need it so in a way it was good we had Hendrik’s on the glacier.  We walked on the short path around the pancake rocks, but unfortunately the mood had been ruined by the dead camera, and Hendrik didn’t care at all about the nicely stacked flat rocks and just wanted his camera to work.  He predicted that the rain had fried the inside of it.  Too bad we didn’t have a camera because it was more spectacular than I thought it would be.

Stock photo compliments of the NZ govt

We stopped briefly in Nelson and lo-and-behold the camera began to work again so all was right in the world, and Hendrik could enjoy the vacation again.  Nelson was a typical New Zealand town with a cute beach and a statue of Able Tasman.  Then we continued further to Marlborough Sounds and hoped for better weather than last time.  It was 100% better, and the sounds looked stunning in the sun.  We drove down the scenic route from Charlotte to Picton and even went on the side “scenic route” called Kenepara Road.  It was not worth it to go down the road since it was just windy and trees along the road blocked any view.

It was sunny when we arrived to Picton and it looked like the whole town had a facelift from when we were there before.  It is amazing what the sun can do for the scenery because suddenly Picton wasn’t this shabby ugly town we just wanted to leave but an adorable village surrounded by the most spectacular scenery.  Since it is the driest part on New Zealand we were actually pretty unlucky the first time around.  We booked a kayak tour for the next day, and then I finally got to play mini golf.

Picton (Christmas Tree)

It was an early 6:30 start for us the following morning. It was cloudy and while watching National Treasure on the ferry it began to rain. As we approached Picton we passed by the Marlborough Sounds, but it was too cold and rainy to stay outside for long so we couldn’t enjoy the view. We were disappointed since it was supposed to be beautiful and the ferry was like a cruise through the sounds but we didn’t get anything out of it. We had to decide what to do and looked at a brochure map, and the distances were unreal. Places that did not seem that far away the map said 5 hour drive. I couldn’t believe it, but we were in a bit of a panic since we’d have to cut out something from our trip.

Marlborough Sounds

When we arrived to Picton and stopped by the info center, we were given a better map with more believable travel times, so we were a bit relieved but not by much since it was still longer than we expected. Since the weather was so bad and Picton looked like a shabby town we decided to book it to Arthur’s Pass. It was drizzling and cloudy the whole way to Springfield, the beginning of the pass and as we reached the top of the first mountain ridge the sky opened and the sun shown and suddenly Arthur’s Pass was gorgeous and our moods had instantly lifted.  The countryside reminded me of Scotland, and New Zealand is called the Southern Scotland and there are also many Scottish immigrants.

Arthur's Pass

We stayed in a cabin in Arthur’s Pass which also had a Jacuzzi so before a makeshift Thanksgiving dinner without turkey or pumpkin pie went to the Jacuzzi. I couldn’t stay too long because of sand flies which swarmed and bit. They are something like mosquitoes but at least they don’t bite as much but when they do the bites stay for a long time. That was our first encounter with sand flies and unfortunately it wasn’t nearly the last.

Arthur's Pass