Blogs from Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 6

Tuesday 18th – Friday 21st January 2011 After a pretty smooth and uneventful Cook Strait crossing – the best kind! - we arrived in Picton at about 9.30pm, better than the midnight we were due in had we caught the sailing we'd booked. (A note for those with small children booking the Interislander, try and get on the Awatere, it has a small nursery with bassinets, clean sheets and some reasonably comfortable chairs for feeding.) We headed round the coast a little way to a lovely DOC site at Whatamango. At least, it was lovely when we got up in the morning and could see it in daylight! Unfortunately the weather decided to turn nasty on us (cyclones can do that!) and we didn't fancy sitting there in the rain all day. We wandered back into ... read more

Blog #15 – Queen Charlotte Track Days 3 & 4 – Dec. 2 & 3, 2010 – Ah, what to say? More beautiful scenery. Day 3 was a long day, 24 km, and some very steep hills. The manuka bushes on this stretch of track were in full bloom; good thing none of us suffers from floral allergies! Every time we turned a corner there was a different view of the Marlborough Sounds – so many twisting winding arms and inlets. We slept that night at DeBretts Homestay on the Kenepuru Sound, near the Portage Resort Hotel . I felt very proud at having hiked that distance. The other people sharing the backpackers were a German couple and a German girl, travelling separately, but eating supper together. The German girl later told us, “I meet so ... read more

Blog #13 Queen Charlotte Track Day 1– November 30 - The Marlborough Sounds were beautiful. A ‘sound’ is formed, geologically speaking, by rivers carving valleys to the sea, and subsequently the sea waters rising, creating steep and narrow inlets, whereas a ‘fjord’ is formed by glacial action carving out the steep narrow inlets down to the sea. More on this topic later in the trip. Our journey began at Ship Cove, so named by Captain Cook when he used it for safe anchorage. To get there, we took a ‘water taxi’, along with a large group of people who were day hiking. Our first day took us around the shores of Resolution Bay and Endeavour Inlet, both named after Captain Cook’s ships. The trail was a series of ups and downs, rarely flat, as it wound ... read more

Misty fiords and sun drenched beaches. Torrential rain and glorious sunshine. Snow capped mountains and dry flat vineyards. Intense, deep reds and subtle, fruity whites. Alpine meadows and wave slammed rocks. Giant Sperm Whales and tiny Fur Seals. Our first impression of New Zealand’s South Island was that of vast contrasts. Within two days of arriving in Marlborough, home of world renowned wineries, we had experienced more varied sights and activities than many people do in a lifetime. Our arrival in Picton was mist shrouded and chilly, but following a forty minute drive along a very windy road we were just outside a beautifully sunny Havelock taking photos and admiring some stunning views out into the Marlborough Sounds and down onto the seaside town. We had been told by many people and read many travel guides ... read more

One beautifully sunny morning I was picked up from Picton by two lovely Irish boys in a van... Worry not, this was down to a prior arrangement and is not in any way suggesting that I am easily charmed by Irish boys! It was supposed to be by two Irish boys and an American but the american had been lost to a (non sex related) ball infection. Or, at least, they promise me that it was all 'above board' so to speak as they had spent the last 4 weeks on a deer farm... also the boy in questions surname is Ball - the irony was not lost Any ways, our numbers slightly depleted, we jumped in the van - named Gina, van Gina, get it? That name either attracts laughter or pursed lips. The drive ... read more