Picton...The Mail Run

We found a fantastic little campground just outside of Picton where we settled in for a longish stay.  We explored Picton a bit and discovered that due to the ferry crossings it is quite industrial .  We had booked a boat trip on the mail boat the next day...and so we took it easy and slept in the following morning.

We reported to the boat in the early afternoon  and we were off to see Queen Charlotte Sound.  There are holiday residences scattered throughout the sound and as there are no roads the residents rely on the mail boat for mail and grocery delivery.  We went along as passengers and so got to see several secluded areas.  It was very charming.  At most stops a dog would run down to meet the boat to receive the treat that the skipper had for each one.  Mail bags were exchanged and groceries delivered.  We made a stop at a memorial to Captain Cook...and I hate to say it, but it is monumentally ugly!   During our trip we saw dolphins, who played in the wake of the boat; rare and fast cormorants; as well as a schol of jelly fish...so large that it stained the water white!  It was a lovely sunny day but we learned that this was to be short lived as a cyclone was approaching and would hit in the next couole of days.

En route to Picton

The route to Picton is spectacular!  It follows the Marlborough Sounds giving beautiful views along incredibly windy roads. We stopped several times along the way...most notably at the Pelorus River.  This is a very picturesque locale and has been made even more famous as it was used in the filming of the hobbit! (The floating barrel scene)

Nelson...The Ring at last!

We made our way to Nelson and found a nice campground alongside a river.  We had a few errands to run and we explored the city a bit.  The one highlight for me was visiting thd jewellers where the rings were made for LOTR and The Hobbit.  Replicas were available for purchase...but...I didnt love them so I took a picture instead of buying...besides who wants a magical ring without the magic!

Abel Tasman Great Walk...at last

We awoke to a stellar day and decided to tackle a short part of the Abel Tasman Walk, overlooking the Tasman Sea and giving views of Bays and the coast.  It was beautiful, quie hot.  The trail is very well maintained and tavels through forest areas and along beaches.  It is very peaceful and picturesque.  It is also a long walk and very tiring.  As we had to do a round trip, we turned back at about 5 km and made it back to our camp in the early evening.  It was absolutely clear to us that we had made the right decision to abaondon our desire to walk the entire 60 odd km as we were exhausted by the time we got back.  10 kms sounds like a short distance, but with the hills and changing terrain it is quite demanding.  Also, tramping on the beaches proved to be a hard slog.  I, for one, could not imagine doing this with a full pack on my back!!!so I was very glad to be doing this short version of the walk.  I was also glad to be walking at this end of the walk as it is a little less popular than the areas further North.  Even with that it was quite busy with younger, need  say it?, more energetic walkers passing us in both directions!

The day before, and in the campsite next to ours, a group of 50 twelve year old girls moved in for a four day school trip.  We deaded the night...which was unwarrented as the girls settled in and were quiet (although I confess that they stayed up later than us...not hard to do as we seem to be falling into bed at around 9:30).  During the day they were running by us, sprinting up hills we were labouring to scale, scrambling across beaches we thought went on forever, and laughing and tittering the entire way! 

Once we were back, and had recovered a bit, we visited the beach, and explored the facilities.  We laughed when we saw the laundry! 

Good bye Tata Beach

We spent a lovely morning with our hosts at the B & B we had spent an idyllic three nights.  It was so great to be somewhere where we didn't have to construct our home (i.e. ptich the tent) and assemble our beds (i.e. blow up our mattresses) etc.  We really enjoyed the break and our hosts were wonderful...(thanks to Debby and Neville for a wonderful stay, and a great travelling plan...er...strategy!!!).

As we were leaving there was great excitment as a helcopter flew over and landed in the local parking  area.  This is a very small community of three or four streets, so the arrival of a helicopter was a notable occurance.  Debby and I went to investigate and we hung around to see a medical evacuation unfold.  Excitment all around.

We bid our farewells and we were off to Toratanoui Camp Site in Abel Tasman National Park, which would give us access to part of the Abel Tasman Great Walk.  We were determined to walk on part of the Great Walk even though we had been frustrated in our efforts to walk the entire length of it due to Paul and I both having aches and pains!.

We spent the first day on the Taratonoui Beach...a beautiful orange sand beach on the Tasman Sea.  A pair of Cormorants were nesting close to our location and we had the opportunity to see one up close as he was drying his wings .   We explored the beach and the estuary behind it as the tide was low. It made for interesting views of the shoreline which is under water at high tide.

Farewell Cape

We explored Golden Bay up to the Northern spit.  This spit extends into the ocean in a ahlf moon shape for many kilometers.  It is covered with sand dunes and grasses and is a well known pheonomenon.  We did not venture out onto the spit itself, but instead we took some short walks to look at the coast.

The first walk we took was up to see Cape Farewell from wich point we could see the most northern point of the Southern Island which is a huge cliff with an stone arch.  The sea was violent and the waves were crashing through the arch.  The wind was very strong giving the whole area a dramatic atosphere.

We walked along the cliff edge and eventurally we could see the Farewell Spit curivng out from the headlands with its end impossibly far away! 

After this we made our way to Whararika Beach which is an area with huge sand dunes.  The sand was being whipped around ferociously by the wind and the seas were violent and turbulent, especially as the tide was coming in.  Although seals are often sighted on this beach, it was far to windy to stay and try to view them.  We walked back through the most unusual landscape.

Cormorants

We learned from our host Debby that Tata Beach is known for the existance of a huge Cormorant colony located on Islands just off the beach.  The coromorants come to the beach every morning at sunrise to get rid of and to find new rocks which they hold in their gullet.   At some times there as many as 4,000 who come ashore at the same time and is rumoured to be quite a sight.  We decided to get up with the sun and go see this event! 

We got up before the sun and the air was finally calm and the rain had cleared.  The sky was beautiful with lovely stars and a bright full moon.  We found a spot to wait on the beach and waited for dawn.  As the sun started to rise the cormorants started to fly in to the beach.  There were not thousands, perhaps dozens but it was interesting to see.   We watched the sun come up and the hills to take on a pink hue...then we were off to start our day.