Picton was an idyllic spot which seemed transient thanks to its two huge ferry docks that seemed to have endured since tourism began in NZ.

With time to kill before our ferry departed we dived into the local aquarium. The staff there were lovely and full of enthusiasm for their jobs which is always great/unusual to see! With a discounted entry we got to see a wide manner of sea life and reptiles - the star of the show was a penguin with an ear infection called Aftershock. We were also introduced to some prehistoric lizards called tuatara which could live over two hundred years! They looked distinctly dinosaury. The weirdest thing we saw was common snakeneck turtles, just looking at them made my toes go all wavy! They we horrible with their alien necks that stretched about three inches away from their bodies, it properly weirded me out. At one point the lady conducting the tour put it down on the floor to show us that it could right itself using its neck if it found itself on its back. For the entire thing I was agonising over it righting itself and quickly making a dash for me where I would absolutely have belted the thing away from me with my foot to the hushed silence and shock of everyone present.

Having refrained from kicking a turtle we got ready to board our ferry, the Interislander. When you meet a new, big mode of transport like a plane, boat or train you get a rush of excitement as it marks a new step on your journey.

The ferry was reasonably plush with the only annoyance being an American male behind us that seemed to think that shouting was the correct mode of speech, my god he didn't shut up. After tentatively sharing an over priced fish and chips we rolled onto North Island - we had arrived!

With night fast approaching we hurried to a shop, grabbed some finger rolls and sausages and headed to a camp site. I manned the BBQ there like my middle name was 'charcoal' and we enjoyed three hotdogs each before bed. Bliss.