New Zealand—Crossing to the South Island, February 16, 2025

The South Island—Picton to Westport, February 16, 2025

We boarded the Kaitaki, the Interislander Ferry, this morning at 8AM for a smooth crossing to Picton where we picked up our rental car. The Kaitaki is 546 feet long, has comfortable seating for 1000 passengers, including private lounges for an extra fee, and a capacity of 525 cars, 108 trailers, 65 trucks, and rail cars. I took a few pictures to show this is definitely a seagoing vessel.

This shows the ferry route from Wellington to Picton.

The ferry loads at 8AM, but folks started lining up at 7:30AM, because a dozen people got up and walked to the gangway as if they knew something. And then we watched loads of folks queue up. Cracked us up!

Okay, so here's the actual line to board.

The ship is huge and we needed two escalators to board.

Taken from midway up the second escalator.

One of the cafes on board. I was 10th in line for coffee.

A look back at Wellington after pulling away from the pier.

The starboard side of the ship.

Our ferry's sister ship heading somewhere else. Christchurch?

Gives you a sense of the space on board. Marie is sitting back left.

Front of the ferry on level 7 deck with cafe behind.

Looking back over the stern to Cook Strait.

A fish farm about 10 miles from Picton.

There were two additional levels for vehicles.

The drive from Picton to Westport.

This stretch reminded me of the drive to Missoula, Montana.

Buller Gorge was pretty, but the winding road was tiring to drive.

Lower Buller Gorge, and the river of course. It seemed we'd never come out of the white-knuckle winding roadway to the coast.

This is our one bedroom cozy home in Westport.

Westport and Surrounds, February 17, 2025

Today we walked a mere mile of North Beach, drove to the jetty at the mouth of the Kawatiri/Buller River, drove down to Cape Foulwind for a walk to the lighthouse, and then over to Tauranga Bay, a favorite of surfers and fur seals.

Our pictures and videos show what I hoped to see on the west coast, and even though the pics are good, it's even better in person.

North Beach goes on and on and on and...

Looking back to Paparoa Range.

Kawatiri/Buller River jetty.

Tidal swirl.

Two channel markers indicate the mouth of Buller River.

There were several plaques honoring those lost at sea or while crossing the bar at the jetty head.

Paparoa Ra Mnts from mouth of Buller River.

Just about everything around Westport is named after Sir Walter Lawry Buller—the stunningly beautiful and white-knuckle road we drove through Buller Gorge to get here, the high school, the river of course, shops, bridges, and other local landmarks. His A History of the Birds of New Zealand (1873), enlarged in 1888, is considered a classic among ornithologists.

The Maori have lived here since the 14th century, taking advantage fishing provided by the Kawatiri/Buller River and sea, shellfish from the sheltered Tauranga Bay, and the abundant fur seals. A few Europeans arrived as early as 1820 to hunt seals, but it wasn't until gold was discovered in Buller River in 1861 that Europeans settled Westport. You can read all about Westport's history here.

I was sorely tempted to have a chat.

You can see the mayor's door is open.

Westport City Chambers building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mining was important to Westport.

Gold was discovered in the Buller River in 1861.

Wesport's iSite Visitor Centre. These centers are fantastic!

Mining rails lead into the museum and iSite tourist information office.

 

 

 

 

 

Baby Weka crossed our path on way to lighthouse.

Cape Foulwind Lighthouse (1876).

Close up of the above picture of Cape Foulwind.

Fur Seal colony in Tauranga Bay.

 

Tauranga Bay is a favorite of surfers and seals.

  

We couldn't resist cooling off in the Tasman Sea.

We stopped at Carter's Beach for cold refreshments, but all this pup got was shade.

As predicted, a light rain started around 3PM and it poured buckets around 5PM but ended by 7PM. And throughout the night the rain tap danced on our metal roof, but somehow, we managed some sleep. Rain is predicted Tuesday-Friday. We'll just have to see. Doesn't really matter because it'll still be warm.