Tuesday, March 4, 2014

E Noho Ra, South Island

The Cook Strait ferry afforded still another look at the Marlborough Sound country and at some the South Island's wild coast. For those keeping score at home, we rode aboard Bluebridge's MV Straitsman, a relatively new ship that commenced service only in 2011. The swells were 6-8 feet in my expert nautical estimation, really a calm, mostly blue day, but the ship fairly skipped, bounced, and lurched its way to Wellington harbor. I did a lot of walking on the deck, keeping my eye on the horizon. Vicki is apparently impervious to such matters and spent the three hours snacking and reading at LOTR.
Leaving Picton















Isolated living out on the Sound















Salmon farm















End of the road















Quite a narrow chute the ferries sail through















Thus















New Zealand's two big islands form an 800-mile barrierbetween the Tasman Sea
and the Pacific, with the 20-mile wide Cook Strait the only outlet for currents,
lunar tides, meteorological tides, etc; that is, a lot of water pours through Cook
Strait; underwater cameras show the Strait's bottom is absolutely clean of debris




















Lashing, smashing, bashing, crashing...















Thus















Finally, we are in the Strait, watching the parade of ferries against the backdrop
of the North Island


2 comments:

Tawana said...

Love your photos of the scenery. The water is wonderful and the coves and caves are beautiful. The photos of the seals were so neat. Looks like you are having a great time in spite of sand flies and sea sickness...how are you going to manage a sea voyage all the way to Europe? Hopefully a huge ship will make it easier.

Mark said...

Um, yes, I have been thinking about all this and intend to Google appropriately, crowd-healing myself. Last time this happened we were on a whale-watching cruise in CA, and I was reading Moby Dick, seriously. I
figured it was just Ahab's Revenge, but evidently I really am susceptible. Avast!