sun, sea, kayaks

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Before catching the Ferry on Monday I had a few hours to kill in Wellington - easily filled by taking the cute little red cable car up to the terminus at Kelburn, a suburb on the hill with houses built up above the road - only accessible by some fairly steep stairways! I had my breakfast at a little caf'e in Kelburn and then wandered back down to the city through the Botanical Gardens. The gardens are arranged on the hillside behind the city and there's native plants, loads of ferns of course, a scent garden (mmm!!!), a peace waterfall, several attractive sculptures, a rose garden and even an old cemetary with rather impressive headstones and monuments. At the bottom of the gardens the cemetary is rather rashly divided by a motorway, so I thought that was a bit odd! But the rest of the gardens are gorgeous and quiet - except for the birdsong, which fascinates me. It sounds so exotic to me, but is just ordinary birds to the kiwis.

Thankfully the ferry crossing over to South Island (the southerners call it the mainland 😊 ) was a calm and not too windy affair. I had been warned that Cook Strait can get quite rough at times, but I suppose more so in the winter. It wasn't sunny, but I picked up quite a bit of colour on my cheeks -shows how strong the sun gets down here, really need to be careful...
Picton itself is a pretty little place, nestled in the Marlborough Sounds region. The Sounds are an incredibly intricate system of water arms with dense bush coming right down to the water's edge most of the way and are extremely beautiful. It was raining yesterday, so I thought I wouldn't see them at their best, but today is just glorious.
The hostel I'm staying at (the Villa Backpackers) is maybe the cosiest I've been to yet, although the bed is the worst (the mattress feels as if it were 10 cm thick or something). The house (as the name suggests) is a large victorian house (red and blue paint outside, so bright even in the fog) and is tastefully decorated, there is even a range in the kitchen.

Today has been another fabulous day. I went kayaking for the first time in my life. I went on a tour in the queen charlotte sound and we paddled about 14 kms altogether, stopping at beaches for morning tea and lunch. There was some wildlife to be seen: among others some seals really close, shags, oyster catchers, herons, gannets and stingrays. The best part of it was the total peace and quiet out there - just the birds and the water lapping. I'll actually be staying at a lodge out there tomorrow night, so that will be nice and relaxing - will have time to write my cards at last! The Marlborough region is also known for it's vineyards, so I think I'll have to go out for a glass of wine tonight, just as a little treat!

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Photos

kayaking
just to prove i did it, not to show any photogenic stuff going on here!