Pretty much done: Wellington, Picton, Nelson

What torture! The night in Wellington is really slow, we could have planned it a little more smoothly and, above all, earlier. But since there was no space left on the ferry - apart from the night connection - there was no alternative. Spent from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. in a check-in area on the Bluebridge ferry - the room had the charm of the Grimma train station hall. Neon lights, radio blaring, uncomfortable plastic chairs. There was no sleep.

On the ferry itself: jackpot! Lie down on a comfortable, wide armchair in the cinema room, put the hood over your head and immediately slipped into the realm of dreams. UNTIL SPIDERMAN FROM SOME SPIDER UNIVERSE JUMPED DIRECTLY INTO MY BRAIN AND FROM THERE DRUMMED ON THE SKULL WALL! Did they really have a film showing in the cinema - animated Marvel nonsense, bright, loud! Thanks for nothing, jackpot, hardly any sleep. Outrageous!

Arrival South Island, Picton, 6.15 a.m. - wait again as Europcar doesn't start its service until 8.30 a.m. and we would be pretty lost without a car. Spent from 6:15 to 8:15 in a check-in area of the Islander ferry - the room had the charm of the reception area of the Aschaffenburger Sparkasse. Light, noisy, quite acceptable, comfortable faux leather sofas. Still there was no sleep.

Arrived at the Beachcomber Hotel in Nelson on the last stretch after a two hour drive through the mountains. Really nice here, large apartment with kitchen, two bedrooms, terrace and - very important - a washing machine that we will torture. I can really recommend the hotel. The beach is a 5-minute walk away and from there you have a beautiful view over the sea.

Nelson is, as the name suggests, named after the British Admiral Nelson, who destroyed the vastly superior Spanish fleet (Armada) at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 - and died himself in the process. Nelson is a city on the western Tasman Bay on New Zealand's South Island and has just over 50,000 inhabitants. It is known for shops selling locally produced handicrafts and art galleries.

Today we had to cook ourselves - Geizkragen-Pitti prevailed and there were ham noodles (cooked by the woman, of course, so everyone has their task and role). Tomorrow we'll do something ourselves, no more fun!

Speaking of tomorrow, what are we doing? No idea - time will tell. On Sunday we continue to Greymouth.

Windshield wiper instead of indicator counter: 74...Car back, but I'm getting better.

Addendum 1: My wife doesn't like ships, doesn't like going out to sea because of waves, wind, swell. Now the Cook Strait is probably one of the stormiest sea passages after Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope... the sea was also a bit rough, a lot of rolling and rolling on the ferry - but seafarer's Pitti, that Having already conjured up hurricanes and then conquered them, it was like walking upright after seven pints of beer. I told my wife about the Cook Strait, who described the crossing as a permanent ride on a ship's swing, after leaving the ferry in Picton - and got beaten.

Addendum 2: from Nautik-Pitti's daily historical knowledge base: The Cook Strait is named after James Cook (1728 - 1779), a well-known British sailor and cartographer who also mapped New Zealand and discovered the passage between the North and South Islands. Neusseland itself was discovered by Europeans in 1642 by the Dutchman Abel Tasman. The first discovery and settlement was by Polynesian sailors around 1000 years ago - they called the country Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud.

coming soon

PIDISI