Awoke to cloudy skies but we learn quick, with a sense of optimism we left the waterproofs back in the b&b and Andrew on a mission to give his legs an airing, donned the shorts. Our first visit was to the Edwin Fox which was a great deal more interesting than it sounds; the NZ “Mary Rose”, the last surviving ship that took convicts to Australia and settlers to NZ, excellent interpretation. We checked the convict name list and found some very unsavoury ...

Bit of exercise today as we walked some of the Queen Charlotte track. Absolutely lovely. Spent some time at Ship Cove where Capt Cook landed several times - we could see the attraction and could swear we were in the Caribbean.

Views from the ferry

Glorious ferry crossing over Cook Straits and onto South Island. Resisted the temptation to watch The Greatest Showman (again) & just sat back to enjoy the scenery. Local lorry driver said it was about as good as it gets weather wise & we are now in our b&b in Picton. It’s tough but someone has to do it.

We made it to 9 o'clock last night before falling into bed. I was ready for breakfast at 4 am meanwhile Andrew slept "for Wales". The cable car and Botanic Gardens were all enjoyed in increasingly improving weather, so much so we went back to hotel to dump the waterproofs and pick up sunscreen and sunglasses. Holding up well until got to Te Ana museum then I hit a wall of jet lag, food refuel usually works, didn't work for me, Andrew sat me down in quiet spot...