Holy cow this ferry is huge. Largest one I've been on. But then it is a critical lifeline tying…read moretogether North Island and South Island. It has to accommodate all manner of vehicles. I saw massive trucks with trailers (lorries) coming off, including a gargantuan mail truck. (There was even a dedicated rest area on deck 7 for truck drivers.) While the distance is not great, the ferry goes slowly, even on the open ocean. I imagine this is to protect wildlife. Then, coming to Picton through the Sound is tricky, and must be done with care. The cruise is family- and disability-friendly. Getting on board at Wellington, we had to take two escalators. However, elevators were nearby. Walkways are wide. With a little help at the doorway, you could even get outside at deck 7. There are elevators on the ship. At Picton, disembarking involves a bit of a walk and stairs, so you can request a shuttle ride. Their are kid play spaces on decks 1 and 7. There's also a cinema on deck 1 that plays family-friendly movies, I believe. (You have to buy tickets.) This thing has 10 decks! Decks 3 and 5 were for regular vehicles. Humans were mostly on decks 7 and 8. The cabins were on deck 9. You can rent these even during daytime passages. Deck 10 up top was closed because it was too windy. (Bummer.) The small gift shop on deck 8 was never open. There were several restaurants. I had a breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs, toast and hash browns. Later I had a roast beef toastie. Prices were reasonable, like you'd find on land. Plenty of drink options (including alcohol) and various snacks. What was annoying was the people who ran to the seats with the views, then promptly fell asleep for the whole ride or looked at their phones, talked, etc. - anything but look at the view. Unless you need to sit there because of sea sickness, please leave these seats for those of us who really want to enjoy the view. The hand dryers in the bathrooms were useless. Be prepared to use your clothing to dry your hands. It was pretty cold during the crossing, but there was no heat (except in one small bathroom which was nice and warm). At times my internet access was spotty or non-existent. I never could get their free wifi to work, so I just had to wait on mine. There are a variety of chairs. There are some premium rooms that have food and don't allow kids that are available at an extra cost. You can also rent these rooms.

Wellington Picton Ferry…read more Well oiled machine... Well, oiled, .... Only for astute Problem Solvers Our month long DIY Tour of New Zealand involved fascinating planning and flexible execution. There are three reasons to visit New Zealand: Nature, Nature, and Nature... There are several options to taking the ferry to the South Island, and we considered and rejected all but ferry. We are not Ferry Newbies, and we enjoy the mystery, delays, delights, and sailings of ferries;we have used Washington State Ferries several times, Alaska Marine Highway System, Shepler's Mackinac Island Ferry Cape May-Lewes Ferry, BC Ferries (Vancouver to Victoria,) Golden Gate Ferry (San Francisco to Sausalito,) Northumberland Ferries Limited, (Nova Scotia to Prince Edward Island.) To us there is both drama and romance in most ferries Our Picton crossing was schedule for a PM, but a large storm postponed crossing too early resulting in adding a motel and restaurant. Storm had settled in AM, but still lots of rain. Lots of problem solving involved. We boarded about 5:00AM. Is Bluebridge or Interislander better? It is very much a preference thing concerning the ferries and how their timetables fit in with the passenger. The Interislander has larger ferries and the option of upgrading onboard facilities to restricted lounges. The train to/from CHCH also meets the Interislander. The ferry from Wellington to Picton typically sails 6 times daily and up to 46 times weekly. 2 ferry operators provide ferries from Wellington to Picton, Bluebridge & Interislander. Wellington Picton Ferry timetables change seasonally, use our Deal Finder to get tickets, pricing, schedules and availability. The average sailing time of a ferry from Wellington to Picton is approximately 3h 33m The distance between Wellington and Picton is approximately 53.9 miles (86.8km), or 46.9 nautical miles. The city of Wellington is New Zealand's capital city and is located on the south west tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. It is the North Island's major population centre and is also the world's most southerly capital city. We had a fantastic sailing. The boarding was well organized, following the storm, and the vessel clean and tidy. I will use again. No worries here. Overall, a Great Adventure, and we are joyous for this experience.

This was our first experience traveling on a car ferry and it was super smooth. We checked in and…read morewaited in our designated lane. When it was time to load, we followed the cars onto the ferry. Once parked, we left our car and headed to the premium lounge. The premium lounge had a hot breakfast, continental breakfast, desserts, and drinks throughout the trip. The chairs, WiFi, and cozy seating areas made travel comfy. We traveled through a major storm and very little rocking was felt. The ride was amazingly smooth. I headed out to the outdoor deck a few times to buck and wind and rain to see the beautiful scenery. Staff was helpful and welcoming. Upon landing, we followed the cars off the boat and headed to our next destination. It was a great way to travel as our luggage was able to stay in the car and we didn't have to deal with it. We did have a rental car, although now you can no longer bring rentals across islands. You need to return and rerent at the destination island.

Love the inter- islander. Such beautiful views of the top…read moreis the South Island and bottom of the North Island. Can be hard to get a seat, but still worth it.

Ferry from Picton to Wellington onboard the MV Connemara. The ship departed on time and arrived on…read moretime. The ship was comfortable and for an extra $40, I booked a two-person cabin for privacy and to take a nap. Private bathroom and even a shower with power outlets and a small desk. Nice and quiet plus I had a secure place to leave my stuff while wandering. You sure don't want a rollaboard suitcase on deck! There was entirely too much waiting at both ends, starting with "last call" an hour before the departure. Why are the walk-ons sitting in the departure area for an hour? And why was it a half hour from "wake up call" until the walk-ons could depart the ship? What a waste of time to be the absolute last to leave! Food and drink on board is expensive. Do yourself a favor and stop at a convenience store on the way to the port and stock up. Note that you are not allowed to drink alcohol that you've brought on board. Wifi worked well enough the whole time across the strait. [Review 448 of 2024 - round number 100 in New Zealand - 21481 overall]

Good ferry service through beautiful Wellington harbour and Malborough sounds. Ferry looking tired…read moreand not much space outside to enjoy the view. Comfortable large seats, some with tables. The movie room a great idea, although there were two rooms showing the same movie. One could have been used for a kids movie. Only one toilet on board and it was busy. I let staff know twice that one cubicle had no toilet paper.

I did a LOT of riding the Metlink, Wellington's bus network. As the capital city and since it is…read morequite spread out, there are over 100 bus lines, the funicular, some ferries and even a few suburban trains. Some of the buses are diesel and some are electric, most of the buses have bike racks on front. It is the most used public transportation system in the country. As well, the city's hilly network makes a public transport system quite the lifesaver. Metlink converted from paper tickets to a tap in / tap out debit card system though it is still possible to purchase fares from the driver with cash. The card system is called "Snapper" and the cards can be loaded online (if you have an online account) or from kiosks around the city. When you "tap in" the cost for your fare is displayed and how much credit you have remaining. Easy to use and relatively inexpensive. I found the bus frequency to be plenty often - I never waited more than ten minutes. And it was pretty awesome to have up-to-date information displayed on the screen at the bus stop. [Review 494 of 2024 - 143 in New Zealand - 21526 overall]

Rented a car from them for our trip and when returning the car an employee ran over our luggage,…read moredamaging our laptop and scuba gear. Omega is refusing to authorize payment to the insurance company to pay for our damaged property. Avoid at all cost!

This is a good company to deal with. I rented two cars from them during a two week vacation in NZ…read moreand had a very good experience both times. The first rental was for one day from their office at the Interislander ferry dock in Picton. They put us in a car which had high mileage but was mechanically sound and very clean. When I returned that car I made a reservation for a five day rental on the N. Island. Pick-up in Wellington, drop-off in Aukland. Again, we had a clean, reliable car at an excellent price with no hidden charges. In both cases the price was considerably lower than the 'big boys' but the quality of the cars and the friendly service left nothing to be desired. I will certainly use Omega in future and heartily recommend them.

Our hotel recommended Bubbly Grape, and it was a good recommendation. Kerry was fantastic to work…read morewith through e-mail, even picking us up from the airport so we could drop our car off a day early a save a few dollars, and dropping us off at our hotel after the tour. We did the full day wine tour for $95 (including tastings), and thought this was a fantastic deal. We were picked up at 9:45am and opened our first winery at 10:00am. From there, we hit three or four before she left us to the drinking and went to pick up six other awesome people who were doing the half-day tour. Eight seems to be about the max she likes to take, which means the van is not packed, it's a good sized group to get to know and talk, and we don't overwhelm the smaller wineries. In the end, for the all day tour, we ended up at about nine different wineries, from very big to very small. We, and all of the folks on the tour, tended to prefer the smaller ones - Rock Ferry, etc. However, my wife and I actually liked Villa Maria the best, even though it's a large one...but it felt small. We also chose to get lunch, and Kerry let us stay at Allan Scott whilst the rest of the tour moved on, and then came back to pick us up. The recommendation of Allan Scott for lunch was another great choice by Kerry - it was fantastic, and reasonably priced. Kerry knows her wine ridiculously well - the art, the science, the taste. She knows all of the people at all of the wineries. She is very, very good at what she does, and charges an incredibly reasonable rate to provide her service. Definitely, without a doubt, check out Bubbly Grape for your wine tour needs!

From the owner: We do wine tours in the Beautiful Marlborough New Zealand region…read more We travel around in comfort in a 11 seater Mercedes Van. We take yoy for wine tasting in famous and not so famous wineries.

The Wellington Railway Station is the terminus of the North Island Main Trunk in New Zealand…read more Passengers wanting to continue their journey to the South Island, would then take a ferry to cross over to Picton. Opened in 1937, it now houses the Wellington office of the National Railroad (KiwiRail). Inside, it has the grand ceilings of a classic railway station, clad in Marseille tiles. It was beautiful and airy inside, and worth a walk around to admire the architecture.

Beautiful old railway station from 1937. There are many tracks, ticket windows, an information…read morebooth, clean restrooms, coffee shops a bar... It connects underground to the parliament & government buildings and the bus station. Here we were able get his maps & tourist information from friendly and helpful staff.

Easily the best place we stayed in New Zealand and incredibly affordable for what you're getting…read more $105 for the standard room with a lovely shared bathroom or $185 for a suite with a private bath. We don't typically opt for a shared bathroom, but this one was exceptionally clean and standalone, with indoor and outdoor shower options, plus an outdoor bath. If you're part of a group or a family with kids, they also have a large, modern house for rent for about $500. If you choose one of the huts, here are some of the exceptional amenities you can look forward to: - A giant outdoor bath to rest in and look up at the stars (there's even a little chalkboard for "reservations") - A beautifully designed kitchen fully equipped with high quality essentials for cooking and food prep. - A very generous selection of free offerings, including fresh sourdough bread, local rabbit island coffee (the best!) local honey and peanut butter, homemade jam, milk or cream for your coffee, and more. - An even broader selection of treats for purchase, like homemade berry or mint chip ice cream, Nelson wine and beer, canned goods, and more. - A comfortable and clean lounge where you can plan your route with local maps and magazines. The design and decoration of the whole place is truly stunning. - Falling asleep (and relaxing in the bath) to the sound of New Zealand sheep in the surrounding fields - Jane and John (the hosts) are friendly, generous locals who will go out of their way to help you find yours. The Applyby House and Rabbit Island House have our highest recommendation. We happened upon them after we missed the last ferry from Rabbit Island on the Great Taste Trail and it was the best mistake we've ever made. So happy we found this gorgeous, rejuvenating, friendly oasis. We'll absolutely be back...with friends.

New Zealand's second largest burial ground, Karori Cemetery is the final resting place of about…read more83,000. It was established in 1891 and replaced the Bolton Street Cemetery as the primary burial ground. It was an interesting walk. The cemetery operates Australasia's first crematory which opened in 1909. Where some cemeteries are "lawn-style" and some are "park", this one has some park-like features but some of it towards the middle are simply jungle. You'll find a number of war service sections, headstones neatly laid out with areas to sit. There is a prime minister, a number of mayors and high level judges, explorers and social reformers. I was specifically here to visit the grave of Harry McNish who participated on Sir Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-1917 and the tribute to Mrs. Chippy, his cat that joined on the journey. Not all pathways are marked and since I entered from one place and wanted to leave through the main entrance, it was a bit of reckoning to find the way. Don't miss the memorials to those who were killed in the Tangiwai disaster (a railway bridge collapse in 1953 that killed 151 people) and the SS Penguin (an inter-island ferry that sank in 1909, causing 75 deaths). [Review 496 of 2024 - 145 in New Zealand - 21528 overall]