A freak chilly night caught us by surprise but we were away after defrosting ourselves and soldiered on despite the palpable absence of Phil and Lorna.

We got underway and headed towards the ferry port, but with an hour to spare we pulled off the main road and wound our way out to Whites Bay as recommended by Phil. The reserve was beautiful and we walked along the dark sand beach, dodging the incoming waves. Having climbed the rocky outcrop at the South end of the beach we looked out over the chunk of South Island which was visible and headed back to the car.

There was an interesting museum dedicated to the first telegraph cable layed between the two islands which came ashore here. The history and engineering behind the feat made interesting reading and some of the photos of the crew stationed in the isolated bay were hilarious.

We pushed on to Picton and after a quick walk along the front joined the queue to board the ferry. Bob nearly melted but we were soon onboard and thankfully it was not quite as busy as it had been. We planned, talked and read until arriving in sunny Wellington ready to cruise up the east coast.

Arriving back on North Island felt almost like coming home. We disembarked and drove through the suburbs of Wellington to our campsite in kaitoke national park arriving just before the friendly ranger shut the gates. It was a great location for $6 each and we cooked sausages, sweet potato and broccoli on the BBQs, and listening to the wildlife whilst we ate it, bob heard a morepork owl!