Babbling Brooke’s Travel Blog

Waking up nice and early, Matt and I packed up the car and said goodbye to Wellington and the North Island of New Zealand! We arrived at the ferry terminal early, as instructed, and lined up to board the biggest boat I have ever been on- the InterIslander Ferry.

The Washington state ferries are probably the biggest ships I have travelled on, having never been on a cruise before (no shade to those who love cruises, I just haven’t had an interest).

We were instructed to leave our car and were not permitted to enter the car deck until we arrived in the South Island, so brought a bag prepared with snacks, books, and my iPad (I would use none of it).

Matt had upgraded us to the Queen Charlotte lounge for the ride, and wow am I glad he did! It was designed as an adults-only, quiet seating arrangement. The only bummer was people had apparently made a mad dash for the window seats, as they were all taken by the time we got there! Cutting our losses, I quickly figured out once underway that I needed a breeze in my face ASAP, anyways. There was virtually no wind, by Wellington standards, and yet the gentle rocking of the ship confirmed right then and there that I would do poorly on a cruise. Thank goodness this ride was only going to be 3 hours long.

For anyone with kids, this ferry makes every effort to help facilitate a smooth ride. They had 2 movies playing in separate theaters during the voyage, a magician, and a person making animal balloons. Oh, and a drawing contest! NZ is truly so incredibly kid friendly.

Making our way to the outside decks, we explored the ship while taking in the surroundings as we left the harbor and began to cross Cook’s Strait.

Always on the move, we ended up ping-ponging around the boat: Our seats, then cafe for food, outdoors on 7th deck, and finally up to the 10th deck for a wide open view.

When we entered the Marlborough Sounds, the view became increasingly breathtaking! The water was pure turquoise juxtaposed to the bright green foliage on the hills and mountains rising out of the water.

Watching the ship navigate the tight inlets, we marveled at the views around us as we neared our destination, Picton. Three hours goes by fast when the scenery is so beautiful to look at!

Windblown by the end, we relaxed in the lounge until we were instructed to head for our cars. Our journey wasn’t quite over yet, we still had a drive ahead of us!

In our cars and on land, we began our drive from Picton to Motueka, where we would be staying for the night before embarking on our backpacking trek through Abel Tasman National Park.

The drive was reminiscent of Eastern Washington as we had entered wine country in NZ! It was so gorgeous and a bit discombobulating; I was fully aware we were across the globe and yet everything reminded me of home.

Finally to our cute Airbnb in Motueka, it was all business to prepare for tomorrow’s adventure. We did some much needed laundry at a local laundromat, got some extra snacks, and grabbed a bite to eat at a very delicious Turkish restaurant, Taste of Turkey.

This day was honestly all traveling but I still had a ton of fun taking in the sights and traveling by a different method than usual!

We went to bed excited to start our backpacking trip and celebrate Matt’s birthday, thoroughly unaware of the absolute disaster heading our way!