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