We booked the ferry to Wellington for Sunday for a short getaway, expecting to return on Wednesday. Cyclone Gita was coming, but it was uncertain when, where or how hard it would hit NZ.
We decided that there wasn’t much we could do, so we doubled our lines and set off.
We did the usual tourist things in Wellington (Te papa museum, cable car, Parliament tour etc)., but I have to admit that I didn’t really relax. The forecasts from the MetService became more dire as the cyclone approached, heading straight for the top of the south island and the forecast for the Marlborough area included strong gale warnings, with heavy rains and winds gusting to 150kph.
Fortunately the Picton Ferry Terminal has a weather station with live feed to their website so I was able to monitor actual winds and keep an eye on the marina through a local webcam. As you can see from the chart the actual wind never gusted more than 30kts – and the marina was probably more sheltered than the ferry pier.
It was with some relief that we returned to find Rusalka sitting happily in her pen, with no evidence of the tempest other than dirty water all around and a stick bobbing around her stern. Picton seems to have dodged the worst of the storm, although other areas of the South Island have had some damage and flooding.
Sorry for the lack of pictures, but I forgot to take any in Wellington!
Ferry in Tory Channel
Wellington
