On day eight we decided to begin our journey south, travelling across the incredible desert road that ran alongside the Tongariro National Park. Due to bad weather we were unable to hike the famous Tongariro crossing and were only able to glimpse the bottom of mount doom during our drive due to thick cloud. We arrived in Wellington and found a freedom camping spot at Owhiro Bay. In the morning we caught the Interislander ferry across to the South Island which took 3 hours and passed through the intricate channels of the Marlborough Sounds arriving at Picton. We headed west through wine country to the town of Nelson and on to a little place called Marahau on the edge of the Abel Tasman National Park.