Today was the transition from South Island back to the North Island. It's normally a three-hour ride on the very large car ferry (see the 05 Oct entry for pictures of the ferry). Today at the check-in gate there was a sign, "Sea Conditions: Moderate." We didn't think to take a picture of it...
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As the ship cleared the land there was a p.a. announcement: "Due to conditions in Cook Strait, passengers are advised to use caution in moving about the ship..." In fact there were pretty large seas in the open strait and this very large ship began moving around quite a bit. A few times it rolled enough that stuff tried to slide off the table and had to be grabbed. The bow would bang down with a shudder and throw spray all the way to the top observation deck.
Here was the view forward,
and the view aft.
Usually we straighten pictures so water horizons are flat, but this time all tilting is natural.
The trip took an extra half-hour but docked routinely at 1:30 and we were off to Paraparaumu (pronounced just like it's spelled, para para umu ... and not "papa ooh mau mau papa ooh mau mau," as some of the fifties throwbacks around here want to say it...). Bought groceries; then couldn't find a suitable campground, so checked into a motel for the night. Tomorrow, weather permitting, finally Kapiti island. However, late info says it may be cancelled, which will be the fourth time for us.
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