New Zealand
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The ferry departed from Wellington to
Picton on the South Island at 9:30. We rode on a huge car
ferry called the Interislander. It held at least 400
passengers and two levels of vehicles. The open water between
the two islands was pretty calm as we crossed. Entire trip
took 3 hours. The boat entered the Queen Charlotte Sound after
crossing and traveled through forested mountain islands
similar to Alaska and Chile. (only the forests have all been
harvested) We got our reserved rental car at the docks.
DW drove across to Havelock in the Pelorus Sound. It was again
one of those carsick rides. When the road sign says "35 KPH"
they mean it! The road hugs the mountain side with water way
down there. Havelock is the home of Sue Huddleston. Sue is the
friend of Maryjon Lundy one of DW's former interns. Sue was
one of the only names we had acquired to look up in NZ.
Havelock is a village of 400 souls placed in a beautiful
location.
We stayed at the Blue Moon B&B on the only drag in town. The
weather is considerably warmer here than it was in Napier.
Swimming sounded nice but even though there's lots of water,
was hard to find. Our first attempt was a lovely river spot
but small biting flies drove us away. Maybe the saltwater
would be better? The tide was out and the bay is very shallow
in most sections. Finally AD played in a small stream feeding
into the bay.
Havelock
has an amazing marina with more than 100 big boats. People
from as far away as Christchurch keep their boats here. We
walked the docks admiring the boats while waiting for Sue to
get off work. We ate at the pub. Everyone had fish. AD can't
believe he's eating so much fish. One local specialty is
whitebait fish cooked in an egg base. DW loved Pavlova, a
meringue dessert that she thought like cotton candy. We taught
Sue how to play 2UP. AD has gotten very good at playing cards
and wins often.
Before leaving Havelock, we had breakfast
at Sue's house. She lives with her parents just outside of
town. They have a plot of land filled with fruit trees, and
animals. Sue's father is a boar hunter and has 10 dogs. Sue
gave us a bag of citrus to eat. They grow lemons sweet enough
to eat like an orange.
The road south toward Kaikoura on the east coast allowed for a
fast pace. Other than the occasional small towns to slow down
through, we made good time. Our image of NZ is a very green,
wet land. This part of the country is beige. Spring is the dry
season, with a perfect climate for vineyards. There are
wineries all along this route. Surprisingly very few stretches
of roadway follow a coast. About 30 minutes north of Kaikoura,
we reached a section that hugged the rocky coast. The surf was
pounding. At the few areas with a beach, surfers were out on
the waves.
There
was a Top 10 Holiday Park in Kaikoura. We've never stayed in
one but they came recommended. Finding the next place to stay
is one of the big problems in our travels. A heated pool and
trampoline sold this lodging even though it was over our
budget. The South Island continues to be more expensive than
the North. Many motels are "self contained" which means they
have a kitchenette. This unit has a separate bedroom area. We
spent most of the day at the park. I took AD out to a beach to
body surf but he was afraid of the undertow and wouldn't get
in. He enjoyed playing with a little Dutch boy for a few hours
in the park.
The mattresses in NZ has been softer than we like. We felt
that they were just old and broken until we were told "that's
the way they like them". When they travel overseas they
complain about our hard beds. With DW's bad back we haven't
been able to sleep in the same bed on these mattresses.
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