Picton & Marlborough Sounds

Up the coast, a couple of hours north of Kaikoura is Picton, where the Inter-Islander Ferry (joining north and south islands) stops in a beautiful harbour in fjords between some impressive mountains.

Apart from walking there isn't much to do in Picton, but fortunately the walk out along the edge of the Marlborough Sounds is pretty impressivee. The area is full with long, steep-sided islands which you can see rising-up out of the sea like a flooded mountain range. A bit of a cross-between Ha Long Bay in Vietnam and Abel Tasman National Park, though Abel Tasman is more impressive. A good day and good exercise nonetheless.