Picton

Picton is a small town at the north of the South Island. It has a deep water harbour and so has become important as the southern end of the ferry service joining the two islands of New Zealand. It is a beautiful town, surrounded by steep hills, each with a pathway to a spectacular view for the energetic.


This is the view from one of the less strenuous climbs to the south east. The wildlife seems to have no fear of humans and this Californian Grouse kept calling all the time we watched and photographed him.

Ther are a number of touristy things about the Picton but the Edwin Fox museum is a must.

The Edwin Fox is was a trading ship built in Calcutta in 1853 and was used for many years for transporting among other things, tea, wine, convicts and emigrants until she ended up in Picton in 1897, without her masts, to be used as a sheep freezing factory. By 1905 she was a coal store, with a huge hole in her side to give access to coal trucks. For over thirty years she was left aground in a nearby bay until a restoration society bought the hulk for one shilling in 1965.

The society was unable to raise the funds necessary to restore the ship but is carrying out the task of preserving the hull.


The museum is full of information about the ships history, which is presented in a very entertaining way. People can also walk around the ship and let their imagination run wild.