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Cook
Strait, New Zealand
"An
Iron Bridge Between The Islands"
   
The Cook Strait ferries provide a
vital "iron bridge" between the road and rail
systems of the two main islands in the country.
There are
several sailings a day in both directions across Cook Strait but try to make
the crossing in daylight - the run down Queen Charlotte
Sound is quite beautiful.
That is, of course, if
the weather is good - and it usually is. But when it's bad, it
can be very, very bad. A combination of rip tide currents and
wind can make it a rough ride at any time of year.
Tides are one
reason: When it's high tide on the west of the country it is, by
definition, low tide on the east. Cook Strait is a narrow
passage of water that connects the two and as a result there are heavy
inter-tidal flows.
Mountains are the
second reason. Look at a topographic map of New Zealand - there is a
range of mountains that runs from Fiordland in the south to
Marlborough in the north of the South Island. Across the strait
and the mountain chain rears up again right on Wellington's doorstep
and from there it's a continuous line through to the tip of Coromandel
Peninsular in the north. The gap between these two high mountain
ranges is like a wind tunnel, funnelling up to gale force winds
through the strait.
That combination of
wind and tide - especially when it's wind against the waves - can make
a Cook Strait crossing an adrenalin-inducing ride that rivals any of
the other action attractions you find in New Zealand.
It is, in reality, one
of the deadliest and most dangerous stretches of water in the world
with 60 ships and 220 lives to its score. One of them, the Wahine
disaster on 10 April 1968, occurred in a raging storm that drove the
L:yttleton/Wellington ferry on to Barrett Reef, at the entry to
Wellington Harbour, with the loss of 51 lives. The wind that day
hit 230kph - remember that 120kph is enough to cause widespread
destruction of buildings and trees.
Prior to that, in 1947,
the trans-Tasman ship Wanganella also struck Barrett Reef - but this
time it was human error. The master of the vessel mistook the
light on the reef for the approach light into the harbour and drove
his ship on to the rocks. This wreck had a better outcome than most
because it occurred in calm weather. All 400 passengers and the
crew were taken off safely the next day.
Over the next 18 days
efforts were made to refloat the ship, aided by a remarkably long run
of fair winds and fine weather. Indeed for a long time such a day in
Wellington was referred to by locals as "Wanganella
weather". Finally, aided by a a southerly swell the ship
lifted clear and was towed to dry-dock in Wellington. Eventually it
was repaired and returned to service.
As you sail into or out
of Wellington see if you can identify notorious Barrett Reef on the
west side of the harbour entrance - the ships all have marine charts
on display to help you
The brisk winds do have
an up-side. If you get lucky you may get to see an albatross
soaring above the ship. These huge birds don't spend a lot of
time on land, and then only to breed. They prefer to hang in
the mid-latitude "Roaring 40s" of the southern oceans
and other wind-prone locales like Cook Strait.
Now, if tales of wreck and ruin haven't
put you off, the trip is one of the scenic highlights of travel in New
Zealand.
In summer
it pays to book if you are planning to take a car with
you on the crossing. But if you just roll up and go on
stand-by you should never wait more than two or three
sailings before getting away. The downside of just
turning up is that you may have to pay through the nose.
If you book early you can make significant savings from
concession rates.
There are
two ferry operators: The Interislander is the
long-established operation - they are a part of Tranz
Rail, the country's only rail operator, now owned (for the second time)
by the New Zealand Government. And there's Strait Shipping, which started out as a freight line but now
operates ships which carry cars and passengers.
The InterIsland Line.
Their website will give you
timetables and fares - they cross each way five times a
day.
The ships - the Arahura, Kaitaki and Aratere - have bars and restaurants on board. You can watch a movie
too - though with such splendid scenery outside I often
wonder why you'd want to.
Go to their website for fares -
discount and early purchase fares are available.
One thing you can't do is buy a cheap fare
on one sailing but travel on an earlier one. If you book
a cheap fare you go on that sailing and that one alone,
unless there is cheap-fare space available on the
earlier sailing - and that's not likely, especially in the summer.
Strait Shipping
Also a New Zealand-owned option,
Strait
Shipping 's Bluebridge
service. Again, check their website for sailing
times and fares. Special and early purchase available.
Twice a day their commercial
freight ship crosses, and you can book unaccompanied vehicles on that.
There are no passenger places on the freight ship - a vessel designed
mainly to carry trucks - so you will have to travel on another
Bluebridge sailing or fly with Soundsair while your car goes on the
freight service.
SoundsAir
If you want or need to get from one side to
t'other in a hurry, fly Wellington/Picton (or vice versa)
with SoundsAir. They make the
crossing several times a day and it's not a lot more
expensive than the ferry especially if you get an el
cheapo flight off the internet. You can send the car on
the ferry (only Strait Shipping offers an unaccompanied vehicle
service), catch a shuttle out to the airport and fly to
get more time on the other side. I've often done just that to have more
time larriking around in Wellington's
nightlife.
A New Zealand Travel Guide is
written by David Morris and published by
New-Zealand-travel-guide.com
148 Hillsborough Rd, Hillsborough,
Auckland 1042,
New Zealand.
Phone (Country code 64, area code 9) 625-6469
Email: drm@visitnz.co.nz
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