Crossing the Strait | From Picton to Wellington

Having explored the South Island and lived on the island for over a year, it was time for us to hit the roads and explore the other half of New Zealand – the North!

Over the two years I spent in New Zealand, I travelled the strait twice from Picton to Wellington and then Wellie to Picton again nine months later.

Thinking of crossing the strait soon? Here’s my take on everything I know – and what you would expect – about the ferry.

I was in New Zealand from 2020 to 2022. This post may be updated periodically.

The Ferry and its Ports

Any Working Holidaymakers would have to cross the strait at least once in their lifetime if (1) they were to max out the value of their visas, (2) travel north for the lucrative kiwi season, or (3) travel south for the beautiful natural landscapes, and maybe the equally lucrative cherry season.

You could choose to fly between the two islands, but from the point of view of a working holidaymaker, the car is our legs and driving beats paying for expensive air travel.

Not to discriminate against non-drivers, buses connect to the ports as well. For instance, Interislander provides a shuttle between Intercity’s main Wellington bus stop and the ferry terminal. I have not crossed the strait this way but would expect the travel to be a bit more tedious. The other alternative is to carpool or find friends who drive and share the fuel.

The ferry service operates between Wellington, on the North Island, and Picton, on the South Island.

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and has activities in the city to entertain you for at least a day. Most places are within walking distances, and the city has a public transport system.

Picton is comparatively duller. Fun activities like cafes, vineyards, window shopping, and hills to climb, are all a car ride away in Nelson or Blenheim.

It takes three hours to cross the strait. The 92 km journey was touted as ‘one of the most beautiful ferry rides in the world’, and we could see why when we travelled during sunset for our evening departure and chanced upon a pod of dolphins on our early morning departure.

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Companies

There is not much to research and consider when choosing the ferry to go with – you have only the bigger InterIslander or the smaller Bluebridge company.

We tried to book with the smaller Bluebridge company, thinking it would be a good experience to support the smaller ones, but the experience turned out bad. More on this later.

In the end, we travelled with Interislander for both legs of our journey.

Both ferry companies are directly opposite each other in Picton, but a 5 mins drive away from each other in busy Wellington.

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Reservation

Booking pages in both companies are the same.

You key in information regarding the number of travellers, including animals, and the size of your vehicle. Bigger vehicles with trailers cost more.

Then there is the option to choose between the refundable and non-refundable bookings and the time for your departure.

Price-wise, Bluebridge is usually cheaper than Interislander. The last I checked for May 2022, the price difference between their most affordable tickets for two adults travelling in a seven-seater was NZD 50. However, this price difference was negligible when we travelled in February and October 2021 (we paid around NZD 240).

Once a reservation is made, an e-ticket would be sent to you via email. Booking through a credit/ debit card incurs a small cost.

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D-Day

Plan to arrive an hour before departure time if you are travelling by your car. Have your e-ticket and travel documents (passport, driver ID) ready.

We were directed to wait in a lane upon entering the terminal. The parking area was packed with huge campers, fancy caravans, cars and trailers moments before the ferry was ready for departure. 

Vehicles lined up to get onto the ferry under the strict supervision of the staff. We meandered into the ferry and parked on yet another lane. On my return trip to the South Island, our car and several other vehicles on a platform were raised to allow more cars to park beneath the platform. I’ve seen trailers with horses, impressive caravans and huge trucks carrying parcels or groceries.

Waiting in the car was prohibited due to safety reasons. Bring along your valuables when you leave the car. We were ushered onto the passenger floors, where there were plenty of seating areas, viewing decks and food options. We also saw lockers outside the passenger waiting area for pets.

On my trip across to the North Island, I spent time touring the ferry and playing board games with friends. It was night by the time we reached Wellington. The journey was bumpy, and we could feel a tinge of seasickness.

On my return trip to the South Island, I spent my time drawing and watching a downloaded movie in the seating area overlooking the strait. We saw a huge pod of dolphins dipping in and out of the waters as we entered the deep sea. It was afternoon by the time we reached Picton, just in time for some delicious pie in Blenheim.

Three hours on the ferry is a long time. Read a book, doodle, play games or download a movie or two to tide over the wait.

Once we reached our destination with the ferry safely docked at the terminal, we heard an announcement for us to return to our vehicles.

Exiting the ferry was exactly how we entered but in reverse. The waiting time was considerably shorter, and we were on the roads immediately upon leaving the ferry.

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My Bad Experience with Bluebridge

Crossing the strait with Bluebridge may be a good experience for some. For budget-conscious travellers, their tickets are usually cheaper than Interislander.

However, my time spent with the company was bad.

We were due to travel to Wellington from Motueka one February afternoon. The plan was to leave Motueka after breakfast and be in Picton by 1 pm to catch the 2 pm ferry. We would reach Wellington at around 5 pm, just in time for some delicious Malaysian noms in the city. What a wonderful start to our adventures on the North Island!

On the day of departure, Bluebridge sent an SMS and email to me in the wee hours of the morning to inform us that our 2 pm ferry was delayed by approximately 11 hours. That meant our trip would have to be postponed for at least a day. The weather along the strait had been bad for the past few days, with reports of passengers stranded on the ferry for more than 9 hours due to severe gale.

Shortly after breakfast, I received another SMS at 8 am on the same day about a new revised departure time (3 pm). No emails about this new timing appeared in my mailbox.

Thinking that the 3 pm departure should be for the next day, I called and emailed the team nonetheless for confirmation. The team may have been busy, and I received no replies, so life resumed.

We drove from Motueka to Picton the following day for the 3 pm departure.

Imagine our shock when the staff responded that our ferry had left at 3 pm yesterday! The young man behind the desk appeared unconcerned and told us to hop over to Interislander next door to try our luck instead. Ferries for departure that day had been filled, and our next earliest bet with Bluebridge was tomorrow evening. You have to be kidding me!

We demanded a full refund, took the advice and dashed over to their competitor across the street.

The lady behind the desk offered a bit more sympathy and managed to book us in for their last ferry due to depart at 6.30 pm that evening with not much of a price difference.

We killed time waiting in their spacious lobby with the other folks. Wifi was not bad.

The episode wasn’t that sad in retrospect when you consider the new friends we met on board with whom we played Israeli Mahjong Rummikub and the beautiful sunset we saw along the way. But we did have to give up the delicious-looking and -sounding daily special Assam Laksa and Char Kway Teow in Wellington that day. It was past 10 pm when we checked in to the most-ghastly-hostel-of-New Zealand.

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Ending

I hope you have enjoyed this article and found useful information for your bookings across the Cook Strait! Post-crossing, we tried woofing in Auckland (not good) and took a month to travel around the North Island (overwhelmingly good). We rented a campervan to tour Northland just before lockdown, dived the Poor Knights Islands, climbed Mount Taranaki, visited Tongariro National Park, abseiled down Waitomo Caves and paddled along the Whanganui River. Then it was back to work as a kiwi grader in Te Puke.