"Treasures of Cruising the World" with Bill & Mary Ann: Report #35 Picton, New Zealand February 4, 2016 Thursday Partly cloudy & 75 degrees Part # 1 of 3 80 Pictures

Sent: Thursday, February 4, 2016 8:05:05 PM
Subject: Report #35 Picton, New Zealand February 4, 2016 Thursday Partly cloudy & 75 degrees Part # 1 of 3 80 Pictures

Report # 35 Picton, New Zealand February 4, 2016 Thursday Partly cloudy & 75 degrees Part # 1 of 3 80 Pictures

Picton is located on the northeastern tip of the South Island of New Zealand. The town of 4053 citizens is buried deep in the Queen Charlotte Sound, and caters to mainly backpackers, boaters, kayakers, cyclists, and people like us, that come by cruise ship or ferry. One other small cruise ship, the Le Soleal, was anchored quite a way from the dock in Picton. They were tendering their guests to shore. Considered small by modern day cruise standards, this vessel is under 11,000 gross tons, and holds up to 264 passengers. It was launched in 2013, and caters to the French crowd. It is an all-inclusive experience and also expensive.

Picton is gateway to the wine country as well as to the sheep and cattle industry in the Marlborough region. The waterways in the Cook Strait to Picton are loaded with dolphins, fur seals, and local enthusiastic kayakers. We will be on the lookout for those dolphins, and hope to see them jumping like we did a few years ago.

Guess who was also here? Yep, good ol' Captain Cook in 1770, who found Maoris living here since the 1500's. Eventually, New Zealanders bought this land from the Maoris, and moved them to nearby Waikawa Bay, where they planted sweet potatoes. In time, the fertile hillsides were planted with vineyards, fruit trees, and timber. The fields were filled with sheep and cow stations, and remain that way today. Last time we were here, we took an all day tour to a private sheep ranch. We began with a visit to the owner's pasture, where he demonstrated how his dogs work herding and gathering the sheep. Pretty neat, especially if you like dogs, like we do. The rancher also showed us how quickly a sheep could be sheared in his wool shed. It's hard work, and when shearing time comes, he has to hire professionals to get it done on time. The raw wool is then sold to factories in the larger cities where it is processed and eventually sold to the public.

Back at the farmhouse, his wife had a wonderful buffet lunch ready for our group. She set up the delicious food on her kitchen table, while we waited outside in their backyard visiting with her husband. Having lots of questions for him about country living, we were the last to get our plates. We discovered that the other folks on the bus with us were hungry, so much so, that hardly anything was left. Good thing the lady of the house thought to save some extra in the pot. They also joined us, and continued to tell us how they raised their two girls in this isolated area. The ride to school took the mom an hour one way, so she decided to get a job in town to be there when they got out of school every day. In time, the girls went to boarding school for their high school years, and off to university in Auckland, living there as well. The oldest daughter decided to come home to help run the ranch, while the youngest began a career in medicine, choosing to stay in a big city. They were fine with that, but did admit that once the kids went off to higher education, they seldom came back home to stay. Too isolated, and few good jobs. Anyway, it was a great tour back then, even if it was $250 per person. We learned a lot.

Other things to do and see here are excursions to wineries, a scenic coastal drive, a catamaran cruise of the pristine water way, and visits to different museums. There is an aviation center with World War 1 aircraft, and a stop at Makana Chocolate Factory. Kaipupu Point Mainland Wildlife Sanctuary is the place to see many birds, fur seals, blue penguins, and perhaps the dolphins. There are green shell mussel, salmon, and oyster farms nearby too.

As for us, we left the ship shortly after 10am. It looked like it might be a sunny/partly cloudy day, but it sure looked and felt like rain. Of course, we carried the umbrellas all day, but never needed them. In this busy port, we were required to take a shuttle bus to the town's center, because of the large equipment and moving trucks on the dock. This port is a major hub for timber, perhaps the douglas fir trees. Besides several large ferries coming in and out of this harbor, barges transport the logs mainly to China we heard.

Once in town, we were dropped off at the information center where we found excellent maps and brochures of the town. All of the hiking trails were laid out, so we were able to chart our way to one of their most popular tracks. This took us past some major hotels with restaurants and cafes, where we crossed the road, and found their mini-version of the coathanger walking bridge. Before we began our hike, we noticed a modern-looking restroom right on the harbor front, near the local craft market. Never saw anything quite like these double unit restrooms. You pushed a button, which opened the door. Upon entering, you pushed the button on the inside, which closed and locked the door. Music came on, and a voice guided you how the restroom operated. You had a maximum time of 10 minutes in there before the door automatically opened up. Once you were done, there was an automated soap and water dispenser to use, with a dryer to dry your hands. When the water was activated, the toilet flushed. Then you pushed the button to open the door. There was a brief moment when you thought maybe the door would not open. Then what? But it did, and it was available for the next person. We don't even have this type of technology where we live in California.

Then we climbed the walking bridge which brought us across the harbor to a large boat marina. From there, we joined a trail that took us to Victoria Domain, and the wooded cliffs above the Picton Harbour. The very steep trail seemed to go on for miles, and would eventually end up at Snout Point at the very end of the rugged peninsula. The maps we picked up had suggested that this hike would take 50 minutes. But that would only be if you were an Olympic athlete in our opinion. Most New Zealanders are young and athletic, so you could easily add another hour to that walk for some of us.

This track above the sound mostly gave us views of the opposite valley and the Waikawa Bay and marina. So we navigated our way up a road that went to a parking lot on the ridge. We really got a workout hiking up this steep road with hairpin turns, but it was worth it for the view of the sound and Picton Harbour below. Instead of aiming for mileage, we figured we would need to head back by 1pm. On the way back, we took a left turn, which brought us back down the Waikawa side. It was here that a local biker passed us, and stopped to offer water. Gosh, one of us must have looked stressed and hot. He was right, but we reassured him we had soda with us. He politely chastised us for not having water, which he was right. Since it was partly cloudy, the temperature was not high for the most part. But when the sun did peek out, it was intense. He said that was dangerous. So he wished us well and was on his way. We would run into him back at the boat marina, and he congratulated us by saying, "Good on you……you guys made it!" Yeah, we're not over-the-hill quite yet…………

We finally came to Endeavor Park, where the trail detoured. We chose to make our way to the highway, passing through a rather new housing development. The gardens resembled ours at home in California. The plants and trees were about the same as we have. And the flowers were in full bloom….very pretty. We saw pear and peach trees full of fruit, some covered with heavy netting. They must have a bird problem. The only sign of wildlife up in the hillsides were some type of emerald green beetle, honey bees, and what appeared to be rabbit poop. No other animals were spotted except a few small birds.

Following the road, we walked past the college, which really looked like a high school to us. The kids were out in the field for a lunch break. At least six young teen girls had climbed a gum tree and were perched up there enjoying being adventurous. They giggled like little girls when we took their photos. They loved it. We heard the school bell ring, but the girls did not move too quickly getting down that tree. Doubt they would look very cool coming down.

Lunch was on the schedule next. We were really looking forward to going to the pub we spotted with a huge pizzeria sign on the billboard. You can imagine our disappointment when we found the doors closed. A sign said they open daily at 3pm. Drats! That would be cutting it too close, since all aboard time was 4:30pm. So we walked the main drag until we found a place called The Barn Bar and Restaurant. It was not crowded, and they had burgers and beer. Their special was an $8 burger with no fries, which was way better priced than the $28 burger in Paihia a couple of days ago. It was so worth it to sit down after that hike. We expected slider-size burgers, but when it arrived, it was full size. And really good with caramelized onions, tomatoes, lettuce and a slice of pickled beets, very different, but good. The Tui beer was even better.

Since this was our final stop in new Zealand (boo-hoo), we wanted to use the rest of our paper money and coins. It was enough to buy a cup of hokey pokey ice cream, of course, and 4 bags of vinegar and salt potato chips, (our only vice). We caught the shuttle back to the ship, and arrived back by 4pm. Exhausted, but happy to have had such a nice day here.

By the way, the damaged tender boat was dropped to within six or seven feet from the pier, where work continued on it. At least that way, none of the dust from the sanding of the hull was deposited on the promenade deck. It did cover the dock, because we could see it when the ship turned and left the pier.

Sail away was at 4:30pm, and was well attended. We ended up staying for three hours, watching for those dolphins. They never appeared. In fact, we saw few birds, and certainly no fur seals or other wildlife. Captain Mercer announced that he was going to perform a special test for the ship's compass by doing a 360 degree turn further up the sound. That delayed our exit by at least 30 minutes, but he said it was a requirement that it be done yearly. And this was an ideal place to do it.

Dinner found only three of us, since Bonnie and Paul opted to eat in the Lido tonight. They had also hiked the lower trail where we walked today. Barbie is excited because tomorrow is her birthday….a big one at that. Our dining room head waiters have promised to blow up 100 balloons for her. No, she is not that old, but we shall see how many balloons she gets. Should be fun because she has invited some special guests.

We noticed that the seas are beginning to act up later tonight. Captain Mercer advised us to stash anything breakable on the floor, as he expects 15 foot swells as we sail towards Australia. There is a system coming up from Antarctica, and we cannot avoid it. Crossing the Tasman Sea can be dicey sometimes. We have three days to reach Melbourne.

Bill & Mary Ann

A ferry docked in Picton