Unprepared for Picton Downpour

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Fri 2/12/2010
Unprepared for Picton Downpour

Today we were in Picton New Zealand. We arrived around 8 but our tour wasn’t scheduled until 1:30 so we spent the morning doing laundry, posting previous blogs, doing the daily suduko, and eating (of course). It appeared to be a nice day and the Daily Program indicated it would be in the 70’s so John decided to wear shorts and we didn’t think we’d need jackets. However, as we were waiting for our tour to be called someone said it’s pouring out there and boy were they right. So he ran down to change and grab an umbrella and my jacket. As we went down the gangplank it was very wet and people were trying to get back on from the morning tours and out for the afternoon ones so everyone got pretty wet.

We were on the Port Underwood Coastal Drive tour which had 3 smaller buses (15 passenger) ready to go. The reason for the smaller buses was obvious later. We headed up to Waikawa Bay and then the winding road to Port Underwood. I’m sure the views are nice when it’s not raining but not much to see this day. We stopped at Oyster Bay for tea in a local home. They also had green shelled mussels, éclairs, sandwiches, fruit, etc. John has decided he doesn’t like the mussles since they are chewy and get stuck in the teeth. I knew better than to try them. The house also had some a really nice garden with some interesting birds (peacock and others that were yellow, aqua, and coral in color), very large deer, and several whalebone vertebrae.

By this time it was actually starting to clear up and we continued around the area on mostly narrow unpaved logging roads with spectacular views. There were also 2 close calls with a logging truck and a large piece of logging machinery. Several of the areas are former whaling stations and one is still owned by the great grandson who described how they captured the whales (these were white whales that have so much oil they float when killed) and showed us the family cemetery. 6 whales in a season was considered outstanding.

The people on our bus were an interesting lot. One was doing crossword puzzles another refused to get out of the bus for anything and we were also joined by one of the Ships photographer’s who didn’t make many friends this trip as she was always late getting back and really got the bus driver upset when he opened the door so we could photos at the top of a hill telling us he’d only do it if we promised not to get out in case he had to move. However, she said she’d promise to get out and did.

We arrived back at the ship about 5:15 so started getting ready for our big night out. Since this was our first Valentine’s Day together we’d wanted to have dinner at the Pinnacle but it has been booked up for that day for months and the 13th was booked as the special Wine Tasting dinner so we decided to celebrate on the 12th. We dressed up (John in his new Navy Jacket and me in a new black dress). As usual it was a very good meal and John enjoyed the rib eye after the crab cakes and French onion soup. I had one of the best filets ever. To top it off we shared a Chocolate soufflé and a Volcano for dessert.

We had planned to go to the casino afterwards but they were closed since the trip between Picton and Wellington is so short. We did go to the show which was a local couple called Duo Des Iles (he’s from France she’s from London but they now live in Picton). They started out with a fast change artist routine along with ballroom type dancing. The next act was a dance by the woman called Candle. He also did a pantomime that was very funny. The audience participation section was extremely funny as he pretended to direct a silent movie showing members of the audience what to do. Hard to explain you to see it.

All in all a very nice day and we’re looking forward to many more Valentine’s Day’s together.

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