The Magic Mailboat

A client waits for his mail. 

Our last day in Picton, we were treated to a trip on "the magic mailboat"  cruise on the Queen Charlotte Sound.  Mail is delivered by boat to folks who live on the water and have no access to roads.  Deliveries are made a couple of times each week and may include groceries and/or other supplies.  This Endeavor Company cruise lasts about 4 1/2 hours and gives the passengers a wonderful view of much of the sound.  The scenery is spectacular, and the narration by the skipper is interesting and humorous.  Highly recommended.

A four-legged mail carrier often greets the boat and is always rewarded with a pat and a biscuit compliments of the skipper.  Most of the houses on the sound are "holiday homes," but about 30 percent belong to full-time residents.  There are a couple of well-known authors among them as well as those who simply value their privacy and  the seclusion. 

A dozen salmon farms on the sound are owned by The NZ King Salmon company.  These raise our favorite salmon meal ranging is size from 1 kilo to 6 kilos.  (k=2 1/2 pounds)  Depending on demand, up to 30,000 fish can be harvested in one day.  There are always workers on the farms 24/7 so fishermen wouldn't stand a chance, and seals are fenced out.  Needless to say, either potential salmon poacher could wreak havoc on the crop.

"Skipper Matt" who doubles as the mailman is an expert at manuvering his craft single-footedly.  In addition, a dolphin researcher on board , a young lady from NY,  has just completed her Master's degree in marine biology in Miami, Fl.  She reported experiencing a bit of culture shock on leaving the big city and coming to Picton, NZ a town of 4000.  She spends almost everyday on the mailboat looking for dolphin and taking notes.  What a drastic change from North Beach for a twenty-something.  No matter how gorgous the scenery, there are not many young people in town except for the back-packers passing through.

As an example of the social life, here's the Picton Yacht Club in the background and kayakers on their way out of the harbor for a late afternoon adventure.  By 6:00 p.m., the weather has turned very cool and windy, a forecast for more fall weather. We spent our last dinner at the "Toot and Whistle" pub next door to the train station with our new friends, Gerry and Dorothy.  We discovered there is an on-going game night there every Tuesday.  In addition, there are sailing lessons for anyone with a ten dollar bill every Thursday afternoon at the Yacht Club.  For our next visit, that's plenty of social life for us.  Who needs North Beach? 

Steadfast Sailing on the Sound

Our sail yesterday afternoon was exciting in 20 knot winds with gusts up to 30 knots our of the South.  It's a little tricky getting consistent winds in the sounds with so many mountains on all sides.  Our captain, Laurence, is from West Australia and built The Steadfast in his backyard, and eventually a dry dock, from plans of a 1913 French cutter, an amazing feat.  He eventually sailed her to east Australia and then across to New Zealand where he and his wife have settled in French Pass close to Nelson but in the outer sounds. 

That's Lana, the first mate, at the wheel.  She's a trained trapeze artist from Lyon, France, but has traveled and lived all over the world.  She's presently studying Chinese medecine and has spent several months in China assisting in hospitals.  Her goal is to return to China after several more months of traveling and working part time jobs in NZ, the Phillipines, Japan, etc. and teach English to Chinese children.  She speaks English very well, but no Chinese, YET.  She will.  A trapeze artist makes a darn good sailor with strong upper body, good balance, and skill at tying knots and handling ropes.  Amazing the people we have met! 

Raising the mainsail took incredible strength and two people.  It's huge, and it takes very strong experienced sailors to hoist it up the mast.  We were so impressed that Bill and I were taken out on such a big boat - the only two passengers for all this work! 

A beautiful day, beautiful ship, and two fascinating people.  The Steadfast carries 34 passengers for a day sail and can sleep 7 plus in her cabin overnight.  If you are interested in more details go to Laurence's website:  http://www.steadfastsail.com/

Tomorrow we are off to LA, a 12 hour trip from Auckland.  We'll be staying at the Sheraton one night, and then home on Saturday evening,  I'll post from the hotel, assuming I have a good internet connection - surely.  This afternoon we have one more trip on the sound in the Magical Mailboat cruise.  More adventures before we leave.  See you all soon. 

Cruise Ambassador for Picton

We have several cruise ships come into Picton every year, and I was asked to be one of the official greeters to welcome the passengers as they come off the ship, hand out maps of Picton, and give directions to various locations - toilets (most popular), post office, Catholic church, internet sites, boat tours, etc.  It's been great fun "working" in the hospitality industry!  And, it's right up my ally telling people where to go. 
Actually, meeting people from all over the world is interesting, and only about 80% notice the incongruity of an American welcoming them to New Zealand.

The gentleman who organizes the ambassadors is the owner of the aquarium which I have mentioned earlier.  He's quite an interesting person, a retired lawyer, and very enthusiastic about improving tourism in the area.  Just as I land a job, we have to leave!

The wine harvest has just begun in Marlborough for the white varietals.  It's about two weeks late this fall due to the cool drizzly weather this summer.  There are a few bottles left from last years vintage now that we are leaving.  There's also a few salmon still swimming in the sound, although Bill and I have done our best to deplete the supplies. 

Today is my US birthday, and I also celebrated my NZ birthday yesterday with new pearl earrings and a nice lunch out.  This afternoon, Bill and I are sailing on the Steadfast (http://www.steadfastsail.com/) a 60 foot reproduction (1915) of a pilot cutter from France.  Since the weather is picture perfect, it should be a great sail in the sound.  I'll post some pictures tomorrow.  Thank you for all the birthday wishes. 

We met a NZ couple on a recent boat trip across to QCT who are educational consultants in Auckland.  They were very interested in our backgrounds in education in the US and took an email address.  So, there you are, two possible jobs in one week. 

There are also a few plums left in the local farmers' market.  Wish I could bring this basket back for all of you. 

We'll be on the Air NZ flight this Friday night (your Thursday) out of Auckland to LA and back to GSP on Saturday evening.  Plan to come see us and view all the rest of the pictures.  I'll be posting a couple of more blogs, so don't go away. 

Kiwi Humor

Kiwis have a quick sense of humor, particularly if it's at the expense of themselves or especially Australians, but are probably most clever with their marketing and advertising attention-grabbers.  For example, Kelli spoted a sand-blasting company in Wellington whose slogan was, "We take it all off."  I love the car service named "Twinkle Tows and Tyres."  Bill spotted one of the Wicked Van rentals that are air-brushed in a variety of wild designs (obviously they appeal to young people) with the quip, "I'm not called horse because of my teeth."   I also like the ladies' dress shop called, "T' da."  It's even fun to watch the commercials here on the telly.  There are some very clever ones that we still enjoy after multiple viewings such as the one for a senior supplement that states, "we support performance, not miracles.

Here is what might be loosely defined as "folk art."  I don't think it's meant to be funny, but it makes us laugh everytime we pass it.  I'm sure we drove past twenty times before I spotted it, so you may have to look closely. There's a tree in the way, so feel free to zoom - and yes, those are two exclamation points at the end!!  Is Vince bragging or advertising?   

Rarangi Bay Hike Pictures

I gave up on uploading pictures for the last blog.  I had a pretty good connection on the Vodaphone gadget, but had to sit on the apartment balcony to get it.  In a stiff cold southerly wind, it was taking far too long, so I have retreated to the Seabreeze cafe.

This is Monkey Bay, about a ten minute climb up from Rarangi Beach.  And, this is White Bay below.

 White Bay is a nice recreation area with a caravan camping site, mowed picnic grounds, picnic tables, toilets, overnight accomodations for rent, and several NZ families enjoying a warm sunny Saturday.  Imagine our surprise as we came down off the trail to the sound of children screaming and laughing on the beach.  The family on the right are fishing, the youngest one casting expertly out into the surf. The water is very cold, and no one swims without a wet suit.  Around the rocky headland to the west is Monkey Bay.

Here's the pine forest on the trail to and from White Bay.  This track is not in any of the trail information we've read, and we had no idea White Bay was such a popular place.  New Zealand is full of lovely surprises, probably only known to the locals.  They are glad to share, but you have to ask. 

Manuka forest along the trail.  There was a cool breeze, bell birds singing, and the nice scent of pine needles as we huffed and puffed up the hill.  It's a real Disney World workout. 

This view is looking down on Rarangi Beach from the top of the trail.  There are a few holiday houses along the beach, mostly built in the sixties and seventies.  There is also a new residential area at the far end of the beach, but a sort of a mish mash of architectural styles with no zoning or restrictions.  This seems to be the rule in NZ. 

Back down on Rarangi after eating our picnic lunch of corned beef sandwiches in honor of St. Patrick.  Here, you can see the black sand and smooth stones that stretch for miles. I have a collection of tumbled shells from the beach for Kayla and Jake to play with next time we see them. 

My wine has run out, Neil Dimond is singing some oldies on the sound system, and Bill is watching basketball at home.  All is right with the world down here until the next great hike.    

Another Hike

This is Rarangi Beach on the Pacific located south of us toward Blenheim.  We found it because Wither Hills Winery has a block of vines in this area from which their premium sauvignon blanc is made, and I saw the road sign on the highway.  We went exploring one afternoon and found this black sand beach on Cloudy Bay and the adjacent tiny Monkey Bay, for those of you who drink the wine of this name.  So, because of two different wines, we found a great hiking track and an amazing deserted beach strewn with little dried sponges, well-worn shells, and round tumbled stones. 
Cloudy Bay is huge, stretching from east of Port Underwood to the chalk cliffs of the Wither Hills which you can see in the distance.  The Marlborough wine district is primarily in the valley below these hills and runs west through the Wairau Valley and south to the Awatere Valley.  As mentioned before, there are 140 wineries in this district. Only about 40 of them have a cellar door where wine may be tasted and purchased.  About 15 have cafes or restaurants.  But, I digress. 

The hiking trail we took Saturday goes up over the "mountain" at the end of the bay and down the other side to White Bay named for Black Jack White, a slave who jumped ship in Port Underwood and made his way to the adjacent bay which bears his name.  He lived the remainder of his life with the local Mauri natives.  It was a steep climb out of both bays with about a 700 foot elevation change on both sides.  White Bay is surrounded by an old pine forest which is beautiful and different from any of the other hiking trails weve used. 

West Coast

We didn't get to see near enough of the West Coast country.  It rained and was misty the first day we drove into Westport and did our walk around Cape Foul Wind (don't you love the name?).  The next morning was still overcast, but we drove down, about thirty miles (which takes about 45 minutes, like driving in our mountains) to Pancake Rocks on the coast.  It's a magnificent coastline with lots of cliffs, forests, and beautiful beaches.  Next trip, it's Nelson down to Haast and across the pass to Lake Wanaka  and Queenstown.  That route takes you through the glacier region where Lord of the Rings was filmed.  The West Coast is wild and isolated - not many tourists, or residents either. 

On the left is Lake Rotoiti on the way over to Murchison.  It is about half-way across the south island to the west coast.  We walked about a mile and back around the lake on an excellent track with native beech trees and lots of bell birds singing.  It was a beautiful day and a beautiful walk.  I think the lake is about the size of Lake Glenville. 

"Japanese" room at Maruia Springs Thermal "Resort"     Cape Foul Wind on the coast south of Westport

Here is he seal colony on the walk at the Cape.  If you zoom in you may be able to see the baby seals.  There is one draped over a rock.  There were a dozen or so little ones playing and tumblng off the rocks and swimming in the water. 

This is the longest swing bridge in New Zealand.  It crosses the Buller River, which the road follows half-way across the south island.  This gorge was the site of a 7.8 earthquake in 1929 which created the cliffs along the river.  The river is deep here, and one can take jet boat rides or ride a zip line across the gorge.  We thought the swing bridge was scary enough.  The drive across the south island takes about 4 1/2 hours from coast to coast - Westport to Blenheim.

Happy St. Patricks Day everyone.  Tomorrow is the Graperide, a bicycle race with 2500 riders entereed.  The route starts in Blenheim, then up to Picton, along the Queen Charlotte Drive (challenging in a car) to Havelock, and back to Blenheim.  I think that's about 100 k.  There are bicyclists arriving on the ferry this afternoon.  Put it on your list, Neil.