NZ16-5: Feb 29th to Mar 2nd~Picton, Pelorus & pics of Pukekos

February 29th: More Naked Bussing, a big 'green-lipped' bowl & Hunting for Hobbits & Dwarfs

I had a 0645 wake up call from the mob, & got my porridge & brews in the kitchen, before taking my linen back to the office. There was no-one about at 0730.

It was a short walk to the bus stop & while I waited, I took a pic of the statue commemorating Waipara wines.

The grapevine statue by the bus stop

Pointy peaks & bush on the way up to Kaikoura

When the bus arrived, it was the same lady driver as on Saturday, & more or less the same trip. 







However, this time I was aware of the nice sights on either side of the road, so had the camera a little more prepared ~ 'thru glass' etc.

Looking east from the SH1

It was fairly sunny, so I managed a couple of decent pics of the views between Waipara & Kaikoura. 

There was the usual comfort break at Cheviot, & the '1/2 way there' stop at Kaikora, where I went for a bacon butty across the road, got a 'ginger kiss' while I was at it, & then a couple of snaps of a pied shag sitting on a rock at the side of Lyell Stream. This is where I give thanks to Glynis of the Kaikoura

A particularly pied Pied Shag ;-)

i-site, for telling me the name of the stream: Gmaps came up with a big fat zilch.

Same one, different angle

Thanks Glynis :-)

Back on the bus, it was 'ginger kiss' time.
Blimey! It was really rich, & I ate less than half of it. I saved the rest for later: 
I had Plans!

The South Pacific Ocean from the Naked Bus

We more or less followed the Coastal Pacific railway line towards Blenheim, leaving the coast just south of Ward.

I'd like to take the Coastal Pacific train on this route one day

We were now going kinda due north, & I see my notes ask:  
Clifford Bay Why is it Pink? 
So, I searched the web & found the following from the 100%PureNewZealand website about the Grassmere Saltworks:
The pink to purple colour of the crystallisation ponds is caused by natural microscopic green algae that change to pink in the high salt concentration. The same phenomena gives the Red Sea its name 
As well as Lake Grassmere, we passed the Big Lagoon ~ Great name! Does exactly what it says on the tin ;-p)
The Big Lagoon is on the Wairau River estuary, & the whole area is famous for Sauvignon Blanc wines, ~ by now we had left the Canterbury region for Marlborough.

My fellow passengers were also clicking away

After Blenheim, the bus continued north up the SH1 to Picton, whereupon I got off, got my hire car from the port, & drove the short distance to Atlantis ~ my home for 2 nights.

A view of Grove Arm from QC Drive

I was eager to get going, so after Daniel showed me the ropes, I dumped my bags, got out a bikini - just in case, & headed west along the scenic Queen Charlotte Drive (QCD) towards Havelock, & ~ ultimately, the Pelorus River.

Highly zoomed Barquentine?

Just out of Picton there were 2 hitch-hikers with their thumbs out, so I took them to Havelock. However, while they were captive, they had to wait while I hopped out for some views of the Grove Arm of Queen Charlotte Sound.

Um? Not sure why I took this.
Perhaps I knew why at the time, but it's 2 years on now!

This one's better ;-)

They were called Bashir & Theo, & I dropped them off just west of the town.



Then I did a U-ey & treated myself to a big bowl of green-lipped mussels for a late lunch.

My Havelock lunch

Like I said, green-lipped mussels. Yummy ;-q

I also bought a kilo to take away. They would be my tea later.



If I wasn't careful, I would start to look like a mussel hehe

Looking NE along the Pelorus River, almost under the road bridge

Lunch over (I had an ice-cream as well), I drove to the Pelorus River, where Peter Jackson had said the river sequence in The Hobbit was filmed.
For those not in the know, Bilbo rescues the dwarfs from King Thranduil's woodland realm, & they escape in barrels down the river.
There were a few scenes filmed on the river, & my intention was to try & find where he'd put the camera(s).

The water looked great & I was sorely tempted,
but time was against me :-/

I parked up by the cafe & asked. 
The lady said it was mostly done at the back camp.

Before going there, I took a walk across the road & down to the pools underneath the SH6 road bridge, thinking I may have a swim 1st. 

You can see it wasn't very sunny

I didn't in the end. 

It was a tad chilly, & I wanted to walk the loop track as well as find the waterfall where the hobbit & dwarfs had beached their barrels.

I think this stretch is the Rai River?
It meets the Pelorus just west of the SH6 bridge

Bridge over the River Rai ;-)

  

Same bridge, different bridge?
I should've made better notes!

Another view from a bridge during my walk

It was so beautiful in the woods
I think these are tree frens?

Another of the Pelorus River from the SH6

The waterfall I'd been looking for!

I started the loop walk at the west end of the road bridge, & the track dropped down through the bush slightly as it curved back to a bridge over the River Rai.

At the foot of the falls - harhar  ;-)

As normal for NZ rivers, the water was so clear

I call it The Balin Waterfall ;-p

It was a lovely walk, & I spent over 1/2 hour wandering through the bush :-)


















There were quite a few other walkers taking the various 'loops' & I kept meeting them ~ either going the other way, or they'd pass me while I stopped for a photo, & then I'd pass them because I walk pretty quickly.

There was a particularly nice bit of track which was very quiet & slightly eerie.
It was so nice I took a photo to show the peace & quiet, & the serenity of the bush.

Walking the loop over, I crossed the road again & drove the car down to 'back camp'.

I went upstream 1st, but the rocky sides gave way to tree covered slopes, meaning the waterfall I was looking for was in the other direction. Turning round I noticed there were lots of differently coloured stones on the dry river bed, which set me thinking ~ see below.














Back at the rocky bit I had a great barefoot scramble over rocks & through pools, & it was at this point I finally found my waterfall.





















If you watch the film, Balin (Graham McTavish) reaches dry land with the fall right behind him, & then they find out about the orc arrow Kili had in his leg.














I've spent absolutely bloody ages on Google Images looking for a screen shot of that particular moment, but, sadly, I can't find one.




I found this, though:

Peter Jackson mid-flow
Well, I suppose the guys in the barrels were mid-flow as well ;-p

Later in the film, Tauriel & Legolas have a confab, & Peter Jackson mentioned in the commentary that this scene was filmed at the Pelorus River, as well.
It was quite a bit sunnier that day, though!

tbh, Peter waxed so lyrical about coming to Pelorus River when he was a kid, it was the main reason I came here too :-D
And you know what? 
Peter Jackson was absolutely right, it is an awesome place, & I'd like to come back & spend more than a few hours here.
Waterfall found, I went looking for little Pelorus River stones, wanting to get thirteen to take home. 
Obviously, thirteen included Gandalf, who wasn't involved in the escape from Greenwood ~ he'd gone off on a mission before the others went in (in case you didn't know), but I had a job picking just thirteen unusual/distinctive ones.
Here they are:

Guess which ones are which!

I know which stone is which wizard, hobbit or dwarf, & if you want to know, just ask!
I went via Blenheim on the way back & went to the pictures. I saw The Revenant, & that bear was Really convincing!
Tea was a sub. from the Subway near the cinema, & I had some popcorn (salted, of course) to eat while I watched.
The film over, I drove back to Picton & my dorm was dark when I got there. However, I could see there were 2 other lumps under duvets, so I kept it quiet & short, & got into bed at 1120. 
It had been a long & eventful day, & - despite the date, I had made no marriage proposals ;-)

March 1st: Back along QCD, & an awesome mail-boat ride in the sounds

The mussels I got in Havelock being cooked

Atlantis provide breakfast, & while I had mine, I put my mussels into a pan.
It was kinda strange to be cooking a kilo of crustaceans at 0830, but needs must: better cooked now than later today when they'd be less fresh.

The bright Atlantis kitchen

It'd been a bit dull yesterday, so I wanted to go back to QCD & see if I could get any better photos in the morning sunshine.

I'd also seen a sign for a Craft Shop, & I wanted a look-see.

My bed was the bottom one beneath the window

Before I left Atlantis, I took a pic of my dorm for posterity. It was the same one as in 2009 - see blog!

Barquentine & ketch anchored somewhere on Grove Arm

On the way west I stopped a few times to get some scenic pics.

Ditto, but slightly further west along QCD

I think I saw the barquentine I saw yesterday: it must've been, surely?

Somehow this came out looking really sunny :-)

Ketch anchored in Govenors Bay (I think?)

Another one of Govenors Bay

I found the sign for the craft shop, but it all looked a bit deserted, & I didn't like to go knocking on random doors, so I turned round & saw QCD from the other direction.

Another nice QCD view

Not many bays have a jetty,
so this may be Whenuanui?

I'm pretty sure this is Shakespeare Bay

I spent about an hour going along & back, & kept stopping at suitable lay-bys & anywhere I could see the sea.


It was great, & even better when the sun made a proper appearance.
Approaching town, there was a lay-by with a viewing area & a QCD map, so I stopped for a pic.
While I was there I got chatting to 2 blokes. One was from somewhere beginning with M (my bloody rotten writing has me beaten this time :-/)
The other one was from Bellshill - near Glasgow. These Scots get all over, eh? 
They were in a DOC truck, & were having a break & a butty!

The wiggly bit on the right (along Grove Arm) is where the pics were taken

I'd planned to take the Picton Mail-Boat trip in the afternoon, so went back to Atlantis to charge the Lumix & grab a bite to eat.
Keira had convinced me to cruise the Sounds out of Picton rather than Havelock, & she recommended Beachcomber Cruises. 

On the Beachcomber Cruises Mail-Boat out of Picton

Keira had booked me on the 1330, & check-in was at 1300, so I didn't spend long at Atlantis before walking along London Quay for my lovely afternoon on the water.
Here's some stuff from the Beachcomber Cruises website: 

The Mail has been delivered by boat for over 150 years in the Queen Charlotte Sounds and we are proud to uphold that service! We are the only official licensed New Zealand Post

The hils of Victoria Domain, east of Picton

Rural Delivery Service by water in the Queen Charlotte Sound making this a truly unique and interesting tour! Come along with us and share the excitement of Mail Day as the skipper delivers the New Zealand Rural post bags, groceries and freight to the residents that call the Queen Charlotte Sound waterways home – the Picton Mail Boat delivers it all!  

Operating from Monday to Saturday, no one day is the same as the route changes daily covering a different area delivering the Mail. People often ask what the best day to go is, or what route we like the best, but each mail route has its own highlights. During your cruise your skipper will provide an interesting and informative commentary on the history of the Marlborough Sounds and the people who lived there then and now.

The 1st Stop at Curious Cove
for the Kiwi Ranch

As we left Picton, I found out our skipper was called Bruce, & our 1st stop was in a bay where there was a youth camp called Kiwi Ranch.
tbh, I don't remember if any person got on or off, or if it was just mail. 
However, looking at Gmaps, it would be a very long tramp through the bush if you didn't commute by boat, & Gmaps shows the nearest road to the camp ends in the middle of nowhere, miles to the south. 
Thank god for the Mail Boat, eh!?
Early on in the cruise, I'd noticed what seemed to be autumnal trees dotted around the hillsides, so asked Bruce about them. He told me they were a type of wildling pine which are very invasive, & are no

The browny-red Raidata Pines were those which had been poisoned

good for logging.
Wiki says: Wilding pines are trees that have spread from plantings made for the prevention of soil erosion and for commercial forestry. Various pinus species are spread by seed and are a problem in areas where native forest does not occur, such as above the bushline, in high country tussock grasslands and in low-growing coastal vegetation. They can displace native tussock grassland species and native shrublands.

Cute little water-side house, by lovely
turquoise water ~ see Becky's info below

A range of infestations of wilding pines exists throughout New Zealand, where large areas of Marlborough are infested with Wilding Pine species, particularly in the Marlborough Sounds and in parts of South Marlborough.
Apparently, trees are bored with a drill, an environmentally-friendly herbicide is inserted into the holes, & the tree left where it is. As it dies it turns red like a broadleaf in the autumn. Once it falls, its detritus will feed the plants around it. Bruce said it was easier to poison them than fell them.
I also checked out the Gmaps' satellite-view in the hope of finding out where the cute little blue house is. I couldn't, so asked Beachcomber Cruises for this & other clues as to where we went with Bruce, & the amazing Becky came up with lotsa helpful info. Awesome! 
This is the 1st bit:
This is the Lazy Fish Retreat, a private holiday homestay in Dieffenbach Bay. They do lots of conferences and team building activities with professional groups from all over the country.

Time & motion efficiency in action:
She brought a wheelbarrow with a dog in it .  .  .

& took back a wheelbarrow with her mail in it :-)

Gmaps was also no use when I tried to find the bay with the dog on the jetty.

Cast-off. Next stop ??

There are jetties all over the place, & I'd absolutely no idea which one it was :-/  
The wonderful Becky came up with the goods again, saying:
This is Erie Bay in the Tory Channel, Jackie lives here with her 3 dogs and is the property manager for a private farm.

More gorgeous turquoise water, & tree-covered hillsides

We made several more mail-stops, Bruce periodically made announcements over the tannoy, & I took photos of glorious turquoise water, scenic hillsides & lovely bays.

Helen with her wheelbarrow: See Becky!

Unfortunately, I was enjoying myself too much to take notes, & the only hieroglyphics I have go like this:
several mail + person drops @ arapawa island incl. salmon / mussel / palla farms + sheep & logging area
As you can see, making sense & spelling weren't high on the agenda ;-)
I've subsequently decided palla farms meant Paua farms. Ahem ;-p

However, at least Gmaps' satellite-view confirmed that the place minus trees was Arapawa Island ~ see below.
Meanwhile, Becky tells me:
This bay is Te Rua Bay, Helen and her Husband have again lived here for a very long time, there are two small houses next to each other that are owned by the same family – have done for a long time and will be passed on down to their children and grandchildren. Helen and Len live here alone and are big gardeners! They often send gifts of homemade Jam and fruit from there trees into the office 😊

Bruce at the wheel

After the mail-drop for Helen, we sailed across the Tory Channel to Arapawa Island which is insteresting not only because it is one of the few places which are a sandy colour & not dark green when looked at from space.
At the jetty we dropped off a load of parcels & a bloke going there to work.
Wiki says:

According to Māori oral tradition, the island was where the great navigator Kupe killed the octopus Te Wheke-a-Muturangi.  It was from a hill on Arapaoa Island in 1770 that Captain James Cook first saw the sea passage from the Pacific Ocean to the Tasman Sea, which was named Cook Strait. This discovery banished the fond notion of geographers that there existed a great southern continent,Terra Australis. A monument at Cook's Lookout was erected in 1970. From the late 1820s until the mid-1960s, Arapaoa Island was a base for whaling in the Sound. John Guard established a shore station at Te Awaiti in 1827 for right whales. Later, from 1911 to 1964, the station at Perano Head on the east coast of the island was used to hunt humpback whales. The houses built by the Perano family are now operated as tourist accommodations. In August 2014, the spelling of the island's name was officially altered from Arapawa to Arapaoa.

Headed towards our next stop ~ Arapawa

Its name may have officially changed in 2014, but on March 1st 2016, Bruce called it Arapawa, & nobody's told Gmaps since, either!

Not sure, but sheep may be responsible for the tree-less hills?

Becky again shared info about the stop at Arapawa, writing about the Heberley family who have:

property in Okukari Bay at the entrance to the Cook Straight. The young fellow in the picture is a fisherman, the Heberley family nowadays have a very large fishing Endeavour. The Heberley family along with others are actually quite significant in History as there family once were Whalers – they caught and hunted down the whales in the Tory Channel and Cook Straight, there is an old whaling station quite close to there house where the whales would be dragged up on shore after been harpooned, cut up and boiled down for meat and oil and exported. Whaling is quite interesting, if you google whaling in Picton you will find out lots of things about it! Interestingly enough once the whaling industry dwindled in 1964 the Perano, Norton and Heberley families joined together in efforts to conserve and protect whales and do a yearly survey sitting high up on the hill with binoculars 24 hours a day to count and spot how many whales migrate into the channel. Arapawa Island is home to the Arapawa Sheep which is grown mainly for merino wool and is only found on this island, so they are very rare and strangely enough no body seems to know how the arrived there! Also home to the Arapawa Goat, again they are only found on this island, thanks to another Mail Resident Betty Rowe (who has sadly since passed), who lives on the other side of Arapawa Island – the goats are now a protected species.

I recently watched an episode of the BBC's 'Countryfile', which was about Adam Henson's trip to NZ. He went out on a boat into the Sound & got to see one of the famous rare pigs & met some of the goats. Being a farmer himself, he appeared very chuffed to have done so :-)

A view to aft

Man-handling the mail

His next shift begins

Here's a bit more interesting stuff from Wiki:
Parts of the island have been heavily cleared of native vegetation in the past through burning and logging, & a number of pine forests were planted. Wilding pines, an invasive species in some parts of New Zealand, are being poisoned on the island to allow the regenerating native vegetation to grow. About 200 hectares (490 acres) at Ruaomoko Point on the south-eastern portion of the island will be killed by drilling holes into the trees and injecting poison. Arapaoa Island is known for the breeds of pigs, sheep and goats found only on the island. These became established in the 19th

Aplogies for completely missing the subject of this pic:
The dog!

century, but the origin of these breeds is uncertain, and a matter of some speculation. Common suggestions are that they are old English breeds introduced by the early whalers, or by Captain Cook or other early explorers. These breeds are now extinct in England, and the goats surviving in a sanctuary on the island are now also bred in other parts of New Zealand and in the northern hemisphere.

I wish I'd got better pics of these nice rocks

Leaving the island behind, we headed towards Ship Cove or Meretoto, a very important spot in the Sounds.
During the sail there, I got couple of nice pics of the scenery.

It may be unwanted & dying, but it looks kinda pretty
amidst the blues & greens

As usual, Wiki came up with the goods, telling me that Ship Cove / Meretoto is:
a small bay in the Queen Charlotte Sound. It is on the west coast of the Sound, just west of Motuara Island and Long Island. The name Ship Cove was given by Captain James Cook on 15 January 1770 when his ship the Endeavour anchored there to replenish supplies of food, water and wood. While his ship was overhauled at anchor, Cook made a headquarters on the shore in the Cove, ordering the planting of vegetable gardens and construction of an enclosure for pigs. Cook would return to the Cove a further four times over the course of his first and second voyages to the Pacific. Cook's settlement was abandoned following his second voyage. Colonel William Wakefield, one of the founders of Wellington, also anchored his ship the Tory in the Cove in 1839. Approximately

I walked along the beach to the left for my swim

1,700 acres (6.9 km²) of land at Ship Cove has been declared a Scenic Reserve administered by the Ship Cove Scenic Reserves Board. 
In 1948, the official name of the bay was gazetted as Meretoto, and in August 2014 was altered to Meretoto / Ship Cove.

Ship Cove is north-east of Arapawa Island, & is one end of the Queen Charlotte Track. On arrival we moored on the jetty on the end of a nice little beach.
I decided to have a swim (I was already in a bikini underneath the shorts), & grabbed bits & pieces from my day-sac to enable me to do so.
It was lovely :-D
I went for a wander round to dry off & got pics of the Pouwhenua & a really cool little bridge over the stream.

The beautiful Pouwhenua at Meretoto

Pouwhenua or pou whenua (land post), are carved wooden posts used by Māori, the indigenous peoples of New Zealand to mark territorial boundaries or places of significance. They are generally artistically and elaborately carved and can be found throughout New Zealand.
The pouwhenus tell a story & acknowledge the association between the people (tāngata) and the land (whenua). Specifically, they reflect the relationship between the ancestors, environment, and the reputation or standing of the tangata whenua.

Another bridge over a stream, but Gmaps doesn't tell me its name

Looking towards the beach

This is possibly one of the most significant
monuments/sites in NZ

The campsite grounds at Furneaux Lodge ~ see Becky

The next stop was at Furneaux Lodge to pick up some hikers who'd walked the  the Queen Charlotte Track. 
By this time we'd been out for about three & a half hours, & were quite a distance (as the crow flies) from Picton.

Becky says Furneaux Lodge in Endeavour Inlet is:
a main pick up point for Queen Charlotte Track walkers. Most walkers we picked up that day would have walked the 15km track from Ship Cove, some walkers stay the night here and then keep walking the next day or thy come back to Picton in the afternoons. Furneaux Lodge like most places in the sounds is quite Historic and has been standing for a long time, with various owners and managers though the years the lodge still stands as one of the most popular places to visit by both tourists and locals, you will see lots of yachts and charters tied up alongside the moorings here. Im not sure if you are familiar with the case but Furneaux Lodge is also home to the mysterious disappearance of two local teenagers Ben Hope and Oliva Smart who disappeared from a New Years Eve Party here 1998 – again this is really interesting to read about.
This what Google says about the Queen Charlotte Track:

It offers a mixture of coastal walking and native bush and winds through the stunning sunken river valleys of the Marlborough Sounds. The track starts at Ship Cove and finishes 70km later at Anakiwa. The Queen Charlotte Track runs almost the entire length of Queen Charlotte Sound, traversing the ridgeline between this Sound and the nearby Kenepuru Sound.

Google also provided this map, with Anakiwa at the end on the left (south west) of the yellow line, & Ship Cove/Meretoto on the right (north east).

Wonderful water, wake & hills of the Sounds

Not sure, but this may be the entrance to the Grove Arm .  .  .

which I'd seen from land yesterday & this morning

Sailing in more populated waters .  .  .

I saw there was a sailing regatta on

Once the last lot of peeps had joined us/got off, we sailed without stopping for about an hour before getting back to Picton.
Awesome :-)))

The penultimate Beachcomer Cruise Mail-Boat pic

Even just sailing along, there were things to see, & I kept clicking away, hoping some would come out OK!








To sum up, for not a right lot of dosh, you get a wonderful length of time actually on the water;  a helpful & knowledgeable Skip ~ thanks, Bruce :-));  see loads of interesting things;  & could have lots of tea, coffee, & various tasty things to eat while you were sailing about delivering mail.
What a totally awesome afternoon :-D
Or maybe I should say ka rawe as well?

Victoria Domain nearly 5 hours later

According to their website I did the Yellow
route this time, but there are 3 more to go at, so ~ if I'm ever back in Picton, I shall certainly make time for the Red, Black or Blue ones. 
Or maybe all 3?
Once again, a Massive thank you to Becky from Beachcomber Cruises, who provided local knowledge, & some very interesting side-lines to have a google at later :-D
I took the long route back to Atlantis, & stopped off at a place that sold wine (& beer, & spirits & just about anything with C2H5OH in it!).

I got myself a relatively local riesling. 
Well, I was having shellfish!
In the Atlantis kitchen, my tea consisted of the mussels I'd cooked that morning with pasta & the last of the cream cheese.
I washed it down with most of the riesling ~ sharing with Holly from Alaska.
Holly & I swapped stories while my camera got charged courtesy of a charger lent to me by an Atlantis staff member from near Marlborough in Wiltshire (there is a squiggle in my notes indicating he may have been called Andy??). 
Looks like he'd swapped one Marlborough for another ;-)
Then I went online to check Es, &, in between all that, Holly & I arranged to have a look at whatever there was east of Picton up Waitawa Rd the next morning.
After putting porridge on to soak overnight, bed & sudoku came at 2210.

March 2nd: Pukeko pics at last, hitching to the airport, & a plane to NI

The Atlantis vestibule

Ditto~ having turned right at the top of the ramp/steps

I was up at 0815, & had my porridge, 2 slices of Atlantis toast & honey, a coffee & a tea.

Holly & I were discussing were to go when Keira suggested visiting the Waikawa Marae.
She also said we may be able to see seals at the end of the road.

Heading NE along Waikawa Rd., we stopped at the Marae, but unfortunately a man said we must leave as we had not been invited.


Continuing up the road, which was now called now Port Underwood Rd, we came to McCormicks Rd., so went down for a look.

We took detours down various other roads as well, & came to a small bay where there were empty baches.

I reeelly, reeelly wish this was closer :-/

A bit further along Port Underwood Rd., we dropped down into another cove, & I found my Pukekos.

A Pukeko in pear oak tree ;-)

They were just hanging out by someone's garden, so I stopped the car a way back & used the zoom to get a bit closer. I took an absolute shedload, but at nearly full zoom, & with the moving subjects, most were blurred & only these 2 survived the cut.
Still, they're better than the 'arse photo' I got south of New Plymouth in 2014 ;-p

Aforemntioned Arse ;-)

We continued exploring & narrowly avoided a crunch with  big truck: the Port Underwood road was pretty skinny in places! 
Although I was trying to keep my eyes peeled for further trucks headed our way, I kept them open for photo opportunities, & eventually

Not sure, but I think the knobbly bits to the right of
the headland are "The Knobblies"!?
Er? Cape Palliser under the cloud?

Cape Palliser across Cook Strait

saw what I thought was North Island across the water?
So, we stopped for some pics in a bit of a lay-by.
While writing this, I checked out Gmaps, & somewhere found a reference to Knobblies / Knobbles, but I'm dammed if I can find it now.
Anyway, taking a bead from somewhere within Port Underwood (above Kakapo Bay???) & across those rocks would give a pic of Cape Palliser?
Therefore, in the absence of definitive knowledge that it's not, I'm going to say that these pics are Cape Palliser from South Island.

Ditto with added flora

It's possible I may set my size 5s on Cape Palliser one day?

Not a clue where this was taken,
other than somewhere above Port Underwood

Wellington is in the mist to the left of the cliffs
The Knobblies (or whatever they're known as) in mid ground

By now we were headed back, but had another near miss with a truck.

Typical :-/  The only other vehicles we saw most of the morning were bigger than us & in the middle of a narrow road.

A zig-zagged coastline

It was still pretty damn gorgeous scenery, so getting back took us a while, but we eventually dropped down Waikawa Rd into Picton, & I stopped off at Atlantis to let Holly out, take a loo break, & pick up Part 1 of lunch before topping the car up with petrol & taking it back to the port well before the 1300 deadline.

Lunch ~ in more or less the same place as 2009,
but facing the other way in 2016

Walking back towards Atlantis, I paused for lunch Part 1 on the Picton foreshore.

I know I took a similar photo of food & a bottle in 2009, but that pic included a view of Queen Charlotte Sound, not a concrete step ;-)

Red flowers, pink steps, & the WW1 memorial to
The Glorious Dead

Nearly the same geography as the 2009 lunch pic,
& my last Picton photo

Lunch over, I took my final Picton pic & made my way back down London Quay to pick up the ruckie & check out.

Before I'd left Blighty ~ with most of my transport within NZ booked & paid for, I'd gone online to see if there was a bus to Blenheim airport.
Nope.
So I'd decided to hitch.

Much like getting from Mt Maunganui to Whakatane that Sunday in 2014, it was either hitch a ride or stay the night & catch the morning bus. As time in NZ was precious, I hefted the ruckie & with a Blenheim Airport sign written on a piece of card, I walked up Auckland St. out of town.
I was on Wairua Rd, & heading into the sticks before a bloke in a van pulled up.
He was Jamie, & off to Nelson to get his van turned into a mobile home. tbh, as it was more lorry than van, he'd at least have room to stand up & walk about.
On the way to the SH62 junction at Spring Creek, Jamie explained he had kidney failure & said "the government pay me to stay alive". He was using some of his money for the conversion, & a mate was to do it for him. He moved about the country, not working, & getting treatment wherever.
Jamie dropped me off at the pub on the corner, & I'd no sooner crossed back onto the SH1 going south than I got a lift from Rach ~ a Kiwi from Nelson. She had an old & very loud saloon, & we had a shouted chat before she dropped me off outside Event Cinema about 4 miles later.
Part 2 of lunch beckoned, so I walked round the corner to Fairweathers - I guess it's a kind of Kiwi Wetherspoons!
It was five to two, & check-in wasn't for 2 hours, so I ate & had a pinot noir. I enjoyed the PN so much, I have started choosing it back home, & it's now pushing its way into my 'favourite red' spot ;-q
Part 2 of lunch over by about 1430, I went back to the cinema for some salt popcorn to eat while I walked back to the SH6 & stage 3 of my 'hitch to the airport' adventure.
It's a long straight road west out of Blenheim, & though not as long & straight as the roads in Canterbury, I walked a fairly boring 3/4 of an hour before getting a lift with 2 guys, Flo(rian) & Leo.
I'd met a Florian before, & like that one, this Flo (& Leo) was from Hamburg in Germany. They were on their way to Nelson to work & were using Leo's mobile to navigate. Consequently, we had a slight triangular detour ;-p before we got to the airport & I said my goodbyes & my thanks.
No idea why a SatNav was required tbh? The airport was only about 7k from Blenheim, & I'd already walked nearly 1/2 of it.
Boys and their toys, I guess ;-)

Another 'not sure where this is' pic!
Possibly near the statue below?

I took these next 2 pics before a trip to the Ladies to swap the shorts etc. for heavier clothes: I only had a 7Kg limit for AirNZ carry-on.

How they used to do it

I ended up pretty warm in trackie bottoms, a T-shirt, a hoody & a coat, but at least I didn't dangle the hoody down the loo like I had at New Plymouth airport in 2014!
To help with the weight, my sultanas & oats went in the coat pockets, as did the electrical cables for the mob. etc. The Chromebook went in the handbag I'd bought (it was just big enough), & I had the usual bits in 3 bumbags: 2 round the back & 1 in view.

Our dinky plane to Wellington

Check-in done, I got a tea, coffee & a local cider at the cafe.
The cider was Moa - see cool glass in pic below.
If I'd've known it was such a good one, I'd've left myself more time to stop by the Cellar Door on 

I remember seeing a sigh for Withered Hills while on the Blenheim
to Nelson bus in 2009. I wondered if these were they?

my way to the airport: we had passed Jacksons Rd on the way.

Almost empty Moa Cider glass

I think the Cloudy Bay vineyard is there, too, so I could've killed 2 birds with 1 Marlborough stone. 
Ah well, maybe next time?


We were late boarding, but it was a short flight over the Cook Strait, & we landed at 1750.
With carry-on I didn't have to wait for the luggage carousel, & there was no customs palaver as it was an internal flight. That meant I was on my way to Anne Marie's (my AirBnB home for 2 nights) by 1805.

I'd googled the route to Lyall Parade, & it involved crossing under the runway near the airport roundabout, & coming out at Coutts St.
The waves were wild & high in Lyall Bay as I came off Tirangi Rd. & turned right onto Lyall Parade. It was also bloody windy ~ well, I was in Wellington ;-)
There were hardy souls in wet-suits surfing, & just before number 114 there was a cafe right on the seafront with a great view of Lyall Bay.
Gmaps had reckoned it would take just over 30 min. to walk to Anne Marie's, but it took me a little longer due to the previously mentioned (head)wind along Lyall Parade, & because I kept stopping to watch the surfers. Even so, I knocked on the door at 1840.
Duly welcomed by Anne Marie & another (long term) lodger, Karen, I had a brew & a slice of pizza. The pizza was very welcome after my battle with the wind, but there was no 'proper' milk, so the coffee had almond soya milk in it - Yuk :-(
I still had some Blenheim popcorn, so I left it for breakfast & soaked & partially cooked some porridge for morning as well ~ I had an early start. After a shower, I checked my Es & sent one to Eileen about the SCD event the following evening. That was another thing I'd arranged before leaving home, & I'd even squeezed in some shoes to do it in!
I charged my camera & did 10 min. of sudoku & blog notes before lights out. My flight to Hamilton next morning left at 0705, & I had a 30-40 min walk to the airport, so the alarm was set for 0550 - eek!
So, I was on North Island with an eagerly awaited trip on the Northern Explorer train the following day, then more eagerly awaited stuff like a stay on Taranaki, the Waitomo caverns, & Kapiti Island before my Top Of The Bucket List reason for returning to NZ for the 4th time.
But that's another story blog! ;-))
OAO