Picton! And view of our ferry!
Day 346
Picton, South Island to Wellington, North Island
Cabin's are the go! Even though our first cabin, #3, had at Westport Holiday Park had bed that was soaked through from an open window..we managed to be rebooked into Cabin #1 that had a fridge in the corner for our wine! A fridge, what a luxury! :-)
Our little cabin!
We toasted our NZ experience with our last South Island wine. A 'to die for' award winning, Mud House 2007 Sauvignon Blanc! It went so well with our ham and cheese sandwiches! You may think we LIVE on ham and cheese sangers..and you're right. Lately these are the staples, easier to prepare than bbq'ing in the rain!
The lady at the reception said the Holiday Park was sodden (the grass area where the tents are to be pitched) because they had 2 inches of rain in 24 hours!! We were so glad to have the cabin. :-) Our last day camping, and we can't camp. Drats...we were just getting used to it too!
Just when i was mourning the loss of our NZ camping days, Greg reminded me we still have a few days to camp once we get to North Island.......
So...we'll see what happens there. I noticed there was a comment in one of the previous posts from a guy mentioning Top 10 Holiday Park. Ye-ah (said in my best kiwi accent) we've tried those, and LOVE them! Very well equipped and reliable. It's just finding them when we're entering the town that's our problem. By the time we arrive anywhere, we're stuffed from all the winding, spinning driving and just head to wherever the first holiday park directions lead us.
This little town of Westport turned out to be a great little town. Our first impression was that it was just a functional, barren town..but once we started looking, we found it to be so gorgeous! We went to the wharf to check it out, seeing it's a port. And took photos. Very quaint.
The main street, Palmerston Street, even had baskets of petunia's hanging each side of the road. And the parks had the most gorgoeus flower beds. The river mouth as we left the town was also full, and really pretty. Just shows you, first impressions don't always tell the whole story.
On the way to Picton we had some terrific views of cows, sheep, vineyards, fruityards, pine trees (Woodstock). We took the scenic route via Motueka and Nelson. So very pretty. But we also had LOTS OF RAIN!!!!
We also saw lots of cyclists headed our way. I really admire these adventures, ploughing along in the rain, loaded up with their tents and gear. Remember when Andy rode his bike across the Nullabor? Either brave or nuts. Whatever the reason for these super fit adventures to be doing this, it will be an experience they'll rememeber. Nothing that requires that much effort is forgettable.
Talking about unforgettable...
We've now had our unforgettable NZ COW EXPERIENCE!!!!
We stopped on the roadside to take pics of the cows that have been screaming, and snorting as we sleep each night in our tent and Greg had an Encounter.
To enable me to take a better shot...he MOOED at the King Cow.
And King not only mooed back. He got really stirred up. He literally snorted at us. And started charging toward the fence line. Greg mooed again (he makes such a good cow!) and King really got going. He moooed really loudly and at the end started hooting and hiccupping with his snout just about blowing smoke!!!
King, the Bull, was surrouned by about 6 girl cows.. He must have felt threatedened by Gregs masculine moo and thought he was going to take his girls away from him!!!!
He was still digging his heels into the ground and snorting when we decided we'd got the photos and wanted to live.
We were in absolute hysterics, to say the least!
The pic is one we'll enlarge and hang to give us laugh Of The Day. IT was just so funny!!!!
We stopped to say hello to the sheep on our drive back as well :-)
It's nice to have friends in NZ! :-)
There were more large hedges lining the streets as we drove along the fruit growing areas....a good idea, no need for fences. And these massive tree joined hedges blend into the scenery. And more wineries.
My uncle told me when he was in NZ in 1978&79 it was difficult to buy a good Kiwi wine. We've heard this over and over again. From various people here in NZ. I'm thinking the wine must have been pretty bad for people to comment on it!
New Zealander's often bought Aussie wines. And still do (particularly the reds)from the look of all the Australian wines in the supermarkets, particualry the Jacobs Creek, Hardy and Lindemans wines.
But i'd say the wines, particulary the whites, have improved markedly over the past 30 years. They really are VERY GOOD here now. Especially the Sauvignon Blancs. They are almost as good as the Amberley whites! (My favourite!) The cooler weather is great for the white wine grapes.
Motueka was another place we stopped, as well as Governors and Te Ranui Basy, which had incredible cliff top views. That's one thing about driving long distances here...there's always something to look at. But we had to hang on. It felt like we were on a rollercoaster as we were driving. The roads really are THAT windy!
Fuel has gone down 3c. ($1.68 L now!) We thought it was just because the service stations here were cheaper. But when i bought the 3 page local newspaper of the area (for 90c!) there was mention of fuel going down. Which was good for us. I must mention the local news. It seemed to me the hot gossip of the area focussed a lot on retrieval of limbs. There were 3 stories about it.
One was a drug dealer, supposedly murdered by his second in charge, who got washed up on the beach, minus his hand. The other was of a leg that got washed up, boot intact. And the other was a mention of a limb that had washed up last December. Another story was about the case of a tree that got a 'stay of exection'! The way the articles were worded were worth buying the 3 paged paper!
Small town newspapers are classic for sure! Reminded me of The Gero Guardian. Made the long journey more bearable. Also read a couple of mags to catch up on the latest gossip - whose out of rehab and whose pregnant and all those natural things that happen to women but become hot news when you're name is Demi, Nicole or Angelina! I must say, it's nice to be able to go into a shop and all the mags are in English!!!!
We arrived at Picton at 5pm, with an hour to spare before we had to be at the ferry terminal. We dropped our corolla off at the Bluebride Terminal and had time 95 mins) to sort out our packs so we could take our Chile glasses with us, and the balsamic vinegar and oil that Greg couldn't bear chucking out.
So, loaded up with front pack, back pack, pillow and a Woolies bag each (that we've been using to take our 'meals' to the camp kitchen instead of plastic bags) we hopped on the Picton - Wellington Ferry.
The ferry takes about 3 hours 40 minutes to cross the Cook Strait. And in that time we watched 2 movies (The Shaggy Dog and Two Weeks Notice) and then we were there. Back to North Island. This time, as i looked out the window of the ferry, i noticed huge open topped crates...and in them, were cows..i wondered whether they were for slaughter or for transfer to a lovely dairy farm. I was hoping the latter because thoughts of becoming a vegetarian were becoming a reality as i peered down on them..aw.
We didn't get our hire car at the other end. We decided to catch the taxi straight to XBase (hostel). It was more practical seeing Thrifty only leaves the cars off at the Airport of Interferry Terminals and not at Bluebride! Remember we booked the wrong ferry? Because we didn't realise there were TWO ferry lines.
In a way, i think it's a bit unfair that they do that. They allowed us to drop the car off at Bluebride when we left, but they don't leave the car at that terminal at other end. Support for Interisland Ferries and not for Bluebridge i reckon.
Anyway....
A maori taxi driver came to our rescue at 11pm at night and took us to our hostel.
We slept like babies.....
It's SO GOOD having an ensuite attached to our room!! That's the worst thing about camping i reckon..is having to get dressed in a wet shower!
Only a few days to go now..before we hit Sid e ney....hehe
CAN'T WAIT! For more than 2 reasons! The first two reasons are...I'll finally be meeting an online buddie, Silvia, for the first time in 10 years,and we'll be catching up with our old Toastmaster friend Zac...but also, we'll be back in our wonderful Australia....after almost a year away! YAY! :-)
I can't help thinking going to PERTH..it will be so emotional.
Seeing family and friends again....oh, i can't even begin to imagine how that will feel. Brings tears to my eyes......especially when i think of becoming a grandmother this year..Oohh..
But also..being able to buy the West Australian and Sunday Times (no where in the world has better newspapers!), eating as much vegemite as i like, getting back into OUR OWN HOME..............and having our own bathroom!~ Doing our own cooking, in our OWN kitchen! Oh, having broccoli and sweet potato...
And being able to have our own garden!
I've never been a gardener...and yet, i miss our garden! Is that weird or what?
Gosh we'll rattle around in it i think, but i'm sure we'll get used to THAT!
Our adventure will not be over until March, (when we go back into our home) but...i can almost savour the taste of home now.
Oh..thinking about it all is making me homesick!!!!!
Meanwhile, we've got to get our act together now..and find our way to Auckland! We're going via Gisborne, where we'll pop in and see Angie's sister Gloria.
xxxx
PS I really need a HAIRCUT!!! Last time i got it done was in MIAMI!! Arrrgh..looks like crap! But..where to go to get it done? My big dilemma at the moment.........
