Day 18 - Ferry, Picton, Edwin Fox, Fish & Chips

Thurs 18th Jan
Today we got up and went to the ferry terminal, and got on the Interislander ferry to Picton for the 4 hr crossing. The Interislander ferry was much nicer than we were expecting; the cafe had gorgeous food for sale including a trolley serving freshly baked scones and cream brought to your seat, there was a magician's show for the children,  two cinemas showing films and a colouring competition for the kids. The whole thing left and arrived on time and although there was a small swell on the sea it wasn't enough to disturb either of us.

Good bye Wellington!

Once we'd arrived at Picton our accommodation was a short drive up the hill. The Airbnb had a fantastic view of the harbour and the hills surrounding Picton. In fact it was so close to the harbour we had unpacked and settled in while people were still getting off the ferry.

Link to panorama

We drove down into town and bought a days worth of car parking knowing that we would need the car park tomorrow while we went on a kayak trip. We popped into the kayak shop to ask them if they had a left handed paddle for Karen, then we went to see the Venerable Edwin Fox. The Edwin Fox is perhaps the 9th oldest wooden vessel still in existence in the world, and out of 1040 vessels that transported convicts to Australia the Edwin fox is the last surviving example. Having read about how this vessel has been used I was amazed that there was so much of it left for us to wander around and take pictures of. There was also a film showing her history and lots of artifacts with stories about the people who had sailed on her in the small museum attached.

we did a bit of dressing up and posing first

hammock on board the Edwin Fox

The cells on the left of the picture are bunks for three people. The two smaller cells in the middle of the picture are prison cells. The Voyage time to New Zealand was 3 months.

down in the keel where the ballast and goods would have been

While we were exploring the weather closed in and the rain came down.
Our next step was to visit the national whale centre however after some wandering around consulting maps and guide books we came to the conclusion that the centre is not there anymore.
We picked up some supplies from the 4 Square, This is a very small supermarket, but we also found a hardware store so that we could replace the adaptor plug that we left in Waitomo. Walking around Picton in the rain isn't a chore because most of the shops have balconies on the floor above or some just have full width canopies which shelter pedestrians from the rain.
While we were exploring we decided to have fish and chips for tea, even though it wasn't Friday. The portion size was huge, we could have fed four people. Not bad for $15. We picked elephant fish and tarahiki, we have no idea which was which, we split the fish between us, it was all delicious. On the way into the fish and chip shop, Karen has noticed a bigger supermarket than the 4 Square, so she nipped over the road to pick up dessert.

Sorry I ate my fish before this pic

We settled in for the evening and did some planning for the next leg of our journey.