Damage to a propeller on one of the large ships of the Interislander ferry company mean that your travel plans could be disrupted. Many visitors to New Zealand make use of the inter-island ferry services that connect Wellington and Picton to transport their rental cars and drive around the country, however the damage sustained to the Aratere in November 2013 looks set to continue to affect services over the summer.
Latest press release from Interislander
Aratere’s interim replacement ship, Stena Alegra, entered service on Monday 13 January with its first passenger sailing departing Wellington for Picton at 5pm.
There have been some issues with this boat so please check the timetable or call 0800 802 802 to confirm sailing times and availability.
An alternative to the Interislander service is the Bluebridge ferry, which also connects Picton and Wellington. Bookings are heavy for the summer months, but now that an extra ferry is running availability should be better.
At New Zealand Rent A Car our best advice is to try and book your ferry as early as possible – even more than a month ahead – and be flexible about your travel times. If you book a rental car from one of our depots you can also leave your rental car at the Wellington or Picton depot and pick up another one at your destination after making the crossing with just a basic passenger fare. There are also domestic flights around the country every day, so rest assured there are alternative measures if you find your travel plans affected by this incident.
We arrive in Auckland on Saturday morning, April 12 at noon.
We would like to fly out of Christchurch on Thursday morning, April 17 at 8:30 a.m.
We would like to rent a car and use the inter-island ferry service to move from the north to the south island.
Please advise.