Crossing the Cooks Straight by ferry took about 2 hours, and we lucked out by having flat seas and blue skies. Our first glimpse of the South Island was pretty amazing. The turquoise sea with swirling currents, framed the abrubt rocky shoreline to the east and west, as we made our way through the islands of Marlborough Sound.

After landing at Picton, we drove northwest to Nelson, a picturesque town along the north shore.

After hanging out in Nelson for the day, we drove south along the coast and through winding mountain passages toward Franz Josef village. On our way, we stopped for coffee in the seaside town of Greymouth. We learned that a tornado had passed through the day before, and caused quite a bit of mayhem, but thankfully nobody was hurt.

Another few hours brought us closer to Franz Josef, and we witnessed another amazing sunset, grabbing a few photos. The next morning we awoke to more blue skies, and low-altitude glaciers...

That night we were treated to a pretty excellent sunset.

The next morning we drove to the Abel Tasman National Park, where we spent the day kayaking along the shoreline. We stopped a few times, and hiked inland along a small stream where we got some photos of lush New Zealand rainforest.

Our last day in Nelson, we stopped in at Jens Hansen Gold & Silversmiths. They designed and fabricated the "Ring" from the trilogy.