I made this map a little larger so you may be able to see the ferry boat icon adjacent to the water between the north and South Island.

WHAT HAPPEND AT PICTON?

Our 18 RV’s showed up on time at Picton so we could get up very early and drive to the ferry terminal, arriving at 6 AM. Our Wagonmasters showed up with long faces and informed us that there were 7 meter waves between the island and that the ferry had also broken down. We were scheduled to sail on April 2 but we could not be booked on the next ferry until April 10. On April 10 we were scheduled to fly out of Auckland, NZ, to Australia. That would not work.

Long story short, the Wagonmasters booked airline tickets for us on flights from Christchurch, NZ, where we started this RV tour, to Rotorua, NZ, on the north island. Wagonmasters surely have an iron constitution. So the next morning we packed up and drove to Christchurch to turn in the RVs and catch a plane early the next morning.

Anyway, a few photos from Picton.

Here I am leaving our RV in the Picton RV park.

Lynn and I met the group at the local Irish Tavern downtown and after a few eats and a nice drink listened to the walk in maestros. The man and woman with the blue windbreakers listening to the tunes are the Wagonmasters that handled our change in plan issue. For some reason he is smiling. Must have been the drink that evening.

Here is a view of the Picton harbor and the ferry that we would NOT ride to the North Island.

Ok. For the geek guys looking at this, hopefully they will enjoy this short plane take off movie clip. We rode a turboprop short haul aircraft from Christchurch to Rotorua that I thought would vibrate and be uncomfortable, but it was very pleasant, although quite small.