The Malborough Sounds

Today our holiday within a holiday began. Our first mode of transport was the train, from Woodside to Wellington. The train mainly caters for the Wairarapa commuters into the capital every day, therefore the latest service we could catch was the 7:30am! In terms of comfort and design it was by far one of the best trains we’ve been on for a while and the views were to die for!

Our next destination was the Wellington ferry terminal where we boarded the Interislander to the South Island. Fortunately the weather was good, a bit windy at times, so we enjoyed a smooth sailing across the Cook Strait.

Once at Picton we picked up a car, our final mode of transport, and drove around the Queen Charlotte Drive to our “Sounds of Silence” B&B accommodation. From our very first few minutes on the road the views were magnificent and we knew we arrived at a magical place.

Naturally, for our first meal we had to sample the local delicacy, green lip mussels. I say “we” but this was mainly Grigoria’s territory and the “Mussel Pot” in Havelock proved to be pretty close to heaven for Grigoria (I had to be content with a very nice veggie lasagna and some funny looks from the local mussel aficionados!). Dessert was however an area where both Grigoria and I could enjoy together and our mud cake was the best way to end a pretty full day.