I jumped on the ferry to the South Island this morning. The weather was overcast and threatening but it did not rain on the ferry ride. It did start raining the second we reached Picton on South Island though. I just shook my head and bought a train ticket a third of the way to Christchurch to a town called Kaikoura on the coast. The train ride looked like it would be gorgeous if you could see it. There are two mountain ranges running parallel to each other with a valley between them and the train follows the valley then breaks out on to the coast. Of course the rain obliterated the views for us today. I could see the sheep and cows close to the tracks just not the sweeping vistas that this train ride is famous for.

I did enjoy the ferry. We saw the endangered little dolphins that I do not know the name of. They were riding our wake and jumping like crazy. They looked more like tuna because they were so small. The scenery was great leaving Wellington and along the Cook Straight right into the sound near Picton. The people on the ferry were friendly and talkative so I had a good time.

a few pics