Christchurch to Foxton; Tuesday, Nov 21

The saga of today really started yesterday in Greymouth. We had planned to go from Christchurch to Wellington by train, but we found out that the train leaves at 7:00 and did not think our energy level could cope with another early start. So I tried to book a car from AVIS from Christchurch to drop off at the airport in Auckland. They would not unless it was for three days on each Island. Thinking this was nuts I checked with one of the other rental companies to see if I could rent one from Christchurch to Picton (where the Ferry leaves for the N.I.). No Problem. However we had not reckoned with the road from Christchurch to Picton. Tortuous to the point of torture. The speed limit was 100KM/hr but opportunities to go that fast were rare. Having started at 8:30 and driving as fast as possible we made the 1:15 ferry by 10 minutes. To complete the story I was talking to a guy from Durham (UK) on the ferry: he had taken the train the day before and it had missed the ferry by an hour so he had to stay over until today.
On the crossing I noticed on the shore of the North Island that I could get a picture with two lighthouses in it, a most unusual opportunity, then on closer inspection I found that there is actually a third lighthouse on the headland in the distance.

We headed north from Wellington and stayed the night in Foxton near Palmerston North in the Celtic Motel.