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Published: January 4th 2014
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Friday 27th December, 2013. Picton, South Island, New Zealand
Today was another travelling day as we had to get to Picton in the Marlborough Sounds ready for the cross over to the North Island tomorrow. We headed straight for Havelock (home of the green shelled muscles that D loves so much). We arrived and "had a look at Havelock but there wasn't a lot" so continued on towards our destination. Rather than go the way the HGV's were sent we followed the signs for the Queen Charlotte Drive Scenic Route - which was much shorter. It was very wiggly and up and down but picturesque. The first viewpoint we stopped at overlooked Shakespeare Bay where there was a large ship in the dock either unloading or loading logs at Waimahara Wharf which was opened by Rt Hon Helen Clark (then PM) in 2000. We continued on and just around the corner we arrived at an viewpoint overlooking Picton Harbour where there were information boards. Picton Harbour is part of Queen Charlotte Sound (QCS). Apparently from here we could only see 10 km of the 50 km long QCS. This sound is only a part of the waterways which make up
the Marlborough Sounds which has a total coastline of 1750 kms. The view we could see before us was of very calm waters with islands dotted in the distance and ferries docking below us.
The first European ever recorded to have landed at Picton was Captain William Stein who explored QCS in 1832. The area was purchased by the Crown in 1850 and for a short period of time the new settlement of Picton was the capital of the province of Marlborough. It is now the port that connects the South Island with Wellington, the capital city, which is in the North Island.
We arrived at Picton and found the YH easily - the problem yet again was parking. We found a P120 slot (2 hours) and went to check out the ferry situation for tomorrow - we also booked ourselves on the Twilight Cruise of the Queen Charlotte Sound (QCS) tonight which includes a fish and chip supper and a glass of vino. We got a pie for lunch and then checked in at the YH which was now open (1 pm). We now had a few hours to kill. It was a bit windy but not
quite raining so we decided to go for a drive.
We drove down to the beach suburb of Picton called Waikawa. It was very pleasant and there were lots of families enjoying the watery sunshine. The harbour was filled with lots of boats and there was a free launching site and free parking for cars with trailers - really well organised!
We continued along this sealed road until we came to Karaka Point Reserve. This is a peninsula that was used by the Maori in times of war. It was never permanently occupied - it was a refuge. Here we found grassy indentations which are all that remains of the huts which would have stood there. We drove to the top of the hill where we were advised by some guys with loads of dogs that we were better off returning to Picton the way we had come as it was much shorter. On he way we stopped at Whatamango Bay Reserve just because we loved the name. There was a nice campsite there so we took some photos.
By the time we got back to Picton it was time to go to the wharf for our
Twilight Cruise which was with an outfit called Cougar Line Cruises. There was only a few of us (about 15) and it had started to rain. Luckily the captain took our tickets first - so we were first on and got the only 2 dry seats outside. We were served our fish and chips and glass of vino straight away. It was only 6 pm and a bit too early for us so we shared one portion and kept the other to heat up later.
The cruise would take us to the start of the QCT at Ship Cove, where most of the other passengers would be getting off in order to walk the track. On the way we stopped off at some private properties in order to make some deliveries. The first one was a flat screen TV "hope this one bloody works" said the recipient. Then we continued on and dropped off a BBQ to someone else. Then we travelled up the sound towards Ship Cove. On the way we encountered a large pod of bottle-nose dolphins. They really put on a show, playing in the wake, jumping out of the water and swimming alongside. At Ship
Cove a load of people got off and some others came on board to return to Picton as they had walked the track in the other direction. We then stopped at the Bay of Many Coves Resort where we dropped off a German family of 4 who were holidaying there for 2 nights (very very expensive!). We turned for home and joy of joys encountered the bottle-nose dolphins again. They put on another show - we tried unsuccessfully to take some pictures. They just moved too fast and the camera was not responsive enough (M wished she hadn't dropped her good one in the kayak!). We did a short video though which worked out OK.
Once back at the YH D heated up the fish and chips and we polished it off with a glass of wine. Tomorrow we leave the South Island.
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