Our time in New Zealand’ south island was coming to an end. Today was our tenth day in the south island and we barely scratched the surface saving only 5 more days for the north island. On the way from Timaru, we stopped a bit in Christchurch and continued on the east coast towards Picton. The spectacular drive follows almost in its entirety the shore, an almost 5-hour drive towards the ferry.
Picton’s harbor is surrounded by peaks. The Cook Strait that separates the two islands is formed on its southern side by a collection of fjords from where sailboats or tugboats came out in the caressing sunset. It took more than 90 minutes to reach the end of the fjords and entered the open sea towards the north island. The entire crossing took about 3 hours and ended up in Wellington harbor in close proximity to the city center.
In Māori legend, the North Island, named Te Ika a Māui represents Māui’s fish, while the South Island named Te Waka a Māui symbolizes Maui’s waka (canoe). The waka is anchored by Stewart Island-Rakiura translating as “Māui’s Anchor Stone.” . As the story goes, Māui, armed with an ancestral jawbone hook, hauled a colossal fish from the depths of the sea with the help of his brothers. Together, they hoisted the fish to the surface, forming the South Island, which served also as their vessel.
According to the Ngāti Porou tribe of the East Coast, their sacred mountain, Hikurangi, was the first part of the fish caught by Maui to emerge from the water. They believe that Māui’s canoe, Nukutaimemeha, became stranded on Hikurangi and remains there in petrified form.
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