The ferry we had booked to take us from Picton to Wellington was at 10.00 in the morning, but last check in was at 9, so we left the campsite very early at around 8 to be there in plenty of time. It was the earliest we had been up in a while and it was a bit of a struggle. Also it turned out it was unnecessary as we were at the ferry terminal before the check in had even opened. The weather had been awful from the moment we woke up and was getting progressively worse so we had to wait in the rain for about 15 minutes before the check in even started. We were the first in the queue which we thought meant we would be getting on the ferry itself pretty quickly but even when we were through the gate we had to wait in a queue to get onto the boat for over an hour. It was very boring to say the least and we were getting a bit annoyed! Eventually we we able to drive the van onto the ferry, which was still a slow process, and leave it on the deck so we could board the boat. The Interislander ferry was huge but there still wasn't much to do, so we just made our way to the bar and chilled out there for a while before we went to the cafe to get some lunch. The whole journey took about 3 hours, but as we had boarded late we arrived in Wellington about half an hour later than we had planned. The weather in Picton had been rubbish, and the ferry ride had been a bit rough but it improved the nearer we got to Wellington and it was actually quite nice there when we arrived. We had reached the North Island at last!

We got off the ferry as quickly as we could and thought we would have a bit of a look around the city before we went to a campsite. Although the weather was better than it had been on the South Island it still wasn't great so we thought we would go to to the museum for the rest of the afternoon. Te Papa is New Zealands biggest museum and is supposed to be one of the best around. It was massive and had about 6 floors so we got bored before we had seen everything, but it was still a really good place to visit. It was very interactive so it appealed about to children and Justin! There were lots of intersting things to see. Once we had had a look around there we drove to a campsite for the night. There weren't really any campsites in the city itself and most of the camps were about a 30 minutes drive away. We found one which was a bit nearer but it was the most expensive we had been to so far, and no where near the best. I think they knew they could charge what they wanted because they were the nearest one.

The next morning we caught the bus from where we were staying into Wellington city. It was a nice morning so we thought we would get a ride on the cable car that takes you from the city centre up a very steep hill to the botanic gardens. There are really great views of the city from there so we took a few pictures, then made our way back down through the gardens. There wasn't many free things to do so we just had a walk around the shops and the area around the Parliament and Queen's Wharf which was really nice. After we had stopped for some lunch and to go on the internet it had started to spit a bit so we thought we would head back. We timed it just right in the end because when we got off the bus it was hammering it down and we had to run all the way up the hill back to the van, and still ended up soaked! We just chilled out at the campsite that night and left first thing in the morning to start the drive up north. I had really liked Wellington though, and felt for a capital city it was really nice. It was busier than everywhere we had been so far, but I didn't think that was really a bad thing. There is only so much isolation you can take!

The drive to the next main place we wanted to visit, Taupo, was quite long and we weren't really in any rush so we thought we would stay in a small place called Ohakune for the night. It took us about 4 hours or so to get there, and we had to make a detour via Wanganui as the road we wanted to take was closed due to snow. There wasn't any snow where we had driven yet, but that was soon to change! We stopped for lunch at Wanganui then drove the rest of the way to Okakune. The roads started to climb higher in the hills and mountains, and soon enough everywhere around us was covered in snow. It made the scenery look even nicer, and was really quite beautiful in places. When we arrived in Ohakune for the night there was snow everywhere! We had driven through it before but this was the first place there had been any snow actually where we were staying and that we could walk in. Obviously the first thing we had to do was have a snowball fight. After I had gotten hit in the face a couple of times by Justin we went for a walk around the town before it got dark. It was really a ski town, but it was quite a nice place. When went back to the holiday park to cook dinner as it had started snowing again. It was nice but we hoped it would stop soon as we didn't want to have to drive in loads of snow the next day.

When we woke up in the morning we saw that it had actaully snowed even more in the night and the van was covered in it. It was really pretty but it was the first time I have evr woken up to see snow and not been excited by it. We were just worried about driving, but we shouldn't have been because it turned out all the roads in and out of Ohakune were closed and we couldn't actually drive anywhere! We had wanted to leave first thing but were well and truly stuck. I had liked the place the day before but started to change my mind. We checked at reception and the information centre but were told there was no way out unless the snow stopped and the roads opened later in the afternoon. Even the roads to the ski slopes were closed it was that bad. We were a bit worried we would be stranded there for the rest of our lives, but we went for a wander in the snow anyway only to get freezing cold and soaking wet. We found somewhere we could go on the internet to kill some time and then went to a cafe for lunch. We asked at information again, only to be told the roads were still shut. We went back to the van and thought that we would wait a couple more hours and if they were still closed book another night. Luckily we met someone in the kitchen who had just arrived in town after driving from Taupo. He said all the roads were fine, and this made us very, very happy! We jumped in the van as quickly as we could and went to leave. However when we reached the highway the sign still said the road was closed. Other cars were driving down though so we just thought 'to hell with it' and drove down anyway. It turned out fine in the end as we saw someone working on the roads who said they were open but they hadn't changed the signs yet. Off we went free at last!