We’ve been building up to this trip for a while, heading off to the South Island to catch up with some friends we haven’t seen for a while and have a good look around at some of the things we think we’ve missed over our last few visits.

Unfortunately, there was a nasty coughing flu doing the rounds, and we both managed to catch it. Rather than sensibly cancelling or postponing our ferry crossing, we decided to push on. Probably not the smartest decision, but hey, we were off!

Our first stop was the NZMCA park at Turangi, a place we’ve stayed at a few times before. It was just like pulling on a big, comfy blanket. We could simply blob out, do nothing and recover a bit. The sun was shining, so all was good.

The next morning, we headed off to Waiouru and stopped at the Army Museum for a coffee and something to munch on before the next leg of the journey. From there, we continued on to Sanson for lunch before pressing on towards Plimmerton, where we were staying for the night.

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The weather was still lovely, but we were both battling the germs, so we did our best to keep to ourselves and not share our little bundle of joy with anyone else.

The Plimmerton NZMCA park is just magic, and having a powered site made it even better. It was still pretty cold, with that Southerly coming up from the South Island, so our new ceramic heater was absolutely fantastic. It certainly made life inside Rafe a lot more comfortable.

We had an extra day before the ferry crossing, so we thought we’d make the most of it the following morning. With the railway station only about 100 metres or so from the park, it was very handy for jumping on a train into Wellington.

About 30 minutes later, we were pulling into Wellington Railway Station, right in the heart of the city.

We both really like Wellington. It’s an easy city to get around on foot, and the train system is fantastic if you want to get out and about a bit further.

I actually went to school here when I was a grasshopper, from about 8 to 10 years old, before we moved to Auckland. So it’s always nice to come back, wander around and take it all in again. 🙂

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We headed off to a café for lunch and then had a wander around the streets before making our way back to the railway station for the trip home to Plimmerton.

The next morning was going to be an early start. We had to be up and about, get Rafe into the city and catch the ferry across to Picton.

The South Island was waiting, and we were finally on our way!