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Published: March 12th 2006
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A green lagoon.
Dont think we've ever seen such a colour of sea water. It's like someone has spilled their paintbox in the sea. Howdy doo di?
We’ve just had a couple of nights in a place called Picton, situated at the North East point of the South Island. It’s a nice enough little town; a few nice beaches in the area &some small cafes and bars, although its main pulls are A) it’s where you catch the enormous ferry to the North Island, and B) it’s very close proximity to the Queen Charlotte Sound Walking track. We didn’t have enough time do any tramping on this occasion as we needed to get back to Nelson for our second sailing course, however we didn’t want to waste our time here either - so in the end we plumped for a 5 hour cruise on a mail boat delivering letters and parcels, groceries and other provisions to the remote homesteads and businesses on the Queen Charlotte Sound. Very enjoyable it was too, the conditions were perfect being sunny bright and fresh, and we got to see loads of remote bays and scenery that a lot of people don’t due to limited road access around this area.
The company which runs the trip is called ‘Beachcombers’ and they make different pick up and drop off
cruises every day. We went on Saturday and this is the longest of the trips, going farther out into the Sound than the other runs.
QUEEN CHARLOTTE SOUND
What is it? It’s a stretch of water reaching from the ocean to well inside the mainland surrounded by high mountains abundant with the rich greenery of planted pine and natural forests. It was named in 1770 by Captain Cook as he sailed the coastline in his ship, The Endeavour. The whole area around here looks very much like the West coast of Scotland crossed with Thai islands with aquamarine lagoons, and cool crystal waters, and gigantic plants sprouting up dramatically from the water’s edge. There are many other ‘Sounds’ too, fringing inland in a spectacular array of directions creating a wonderfully textured coastline.
Stops we made included: Port Jackson which is way out beyond the limits of the Sound, East Bay, Resolution Bay and Endeavour Inlet. We passed Salmon Farms, Mussel farms, Sailing clubs and dinghy’s, we saw dolphin pods racing along against the tide, had water sprayed in our faces from the waves as we sped along, and we smelled the fragrant aromas of the pine forests and
the salty sea. We also caught the spectacle of bush fire, being doused successfully by a team of Fire Brigade helicopters using gargantuan buckets of water which dangled precariously at the end of long support ropes or chains. It was really exciting.
Afterwards, we stopped off for a wee drink and had some Hot Pot for tea, then it was home to bed back at our campervan site. We’ve bought a discount card for Top 10 Camping Sites. These sites are located in the North and South islands and have brilliant facilities - usually including swimming pools, spa baths, trampolines (not been on any of those yet, but give it time) and ace cooking, washing and recreational activities. So far it’s been costing us about 12 pounds a night to camp up Beryl in a powered site. Things have been going well with the camping so far, however Beryl has got a couple of war wounds already. These include:
1) The fridge is temperamental. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Alan thinks there is a loose connection (Shaz thinks Alan has a loose connection) and is going to have a look at it when we get some decent
screwdrivers - prob after second sailing course.
2) We left the lights on one day when we went out for a walk (and were not hooked up in a campsite at the time) and the battery went flat. We needed to get a jump start from a man in a garage - and luckily it only cost us about 4 pounds.
3) We left the roof vent open as we were driving along one day and now it’s broken - so we need to get that replaced. We’re hoping we can get this done in Nelson as we really don’t want to have to go back out of our way to Christchurch again.
We’ve been getting good sleeps in Beryl over this first week. The campsites are much, much quieter than hostels. We think that this might be because the people who use them are not squads of screaming teenagers out to get blootered every night, and also because they are normally situated slightly outside of the town areas. The only thing is that sometimes it’s been really cold at night and we’ve had to use sleeping bags and the white trash-esque duvet. This is much better for us
though than melting in the heat like we did in much of Australia. It’s easier to make yourself warm, than try to cool down without air conditioning.
So now we have arrived back in Nelson, and the sun is shining yet again. We start our second Sailing course tomorrow morning at 10am and will be at sea for 5 days and nights, and we’ll be sailing over to the Abel Tasman National Park. All the pictures we’ve ever seen of this area are gorgeous - very beautiful coastline with clear waters and lots of groovy wildlife (seals and dolphins abound apparently) and we’ll have our cameras with us too, so hopefully we’ll be able to capture the essence of this experience for publication soon afterwards. The day we finish up is the 17th March - St Patrick’s day - and we’re looking fwd already to that well earned pint of Guinness after these 5 days off land! Hmmmm…. it’s just occurred to me that we probably sound a bit like alcoholics - but actually we have only been going out about once or twice a week to the pub for a drink and a socialize. We just like to
Action shot!
The Fire Brigade copter swings into action. You can see here the water being dropped onto the bush fire below. post pics of our latest drink trends to show you all what the local poisons are like! Honest.
So then - a quiet week from the Eggs coming up - we won’t be contactable by email till next Friday - so have a great week everyone and we’ll let you know asap how we get on with our boating venture.
Take care y’all,
Al & Shaz. Xxx (Captains Pugwash & Birdseye).
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Linesy
Graham Lines
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Hi guys. Trip to Whitsundays was aboard the Kiana. Usually costs about $450 I think but a friend of mine goit some crazy deal for half price but there may have been some shennanigans with the travel agent!