We were down in the foyer by 6-50am and our taxi arrived shortly after. "Ferry Terminal please" I said.
"Which one" he replied. Oh Lord, there are two entirely separate and independent Ferry services to Picton leaving from different locations. Hastily I dug out our instructions. 'The Inter-islander!!!' and we were on the way.
Nice modern Terminal and it was interesting to watch it gradually fill.
At about 7-45 our party arrived and we were directed to the bus. Ellen our tour leader introduced herself and Wayne, our driver. We were given our travel info pack which gave us our bus seating - it changes each day so no one gets to sit in the back seat for the whole trip. Our luggage was loaded and we were on board. Two rows of smiling (very wrinkly) faces beaming at us. Anne is the youngest here by about 59 years I think <g>
It was interesting to watch the loading of the ferry. (We travelled on the Waitaki.) Big truck and trailers units leave the trailers at the berthing yard and the Ferry Co hook up their own small tractor units to load them on board and discharge them at the other where the Company then uses a South Island based truck from their fleet to collect the tractor. Cheaper and more efficient than sending a truck and driver over the strait with work hours and all that stuff getting in the way of a smooth operation.
Lots of marshalling staff to direct the cars into the long queues for boarding and then we are finally loaded. It was a glorious still day - no chains needed for this trip.
The journey took about 3 hours, and the ferry is very well organised. Lots of lounge type seating, plenty of outdoor viewing areas, a bar and cafe.
The Marlborough Sounds are everything I had heard they were. Fascinating little cottages tucked in to what seemed like completely inaccessible bays, beautiful scenery, deep green water. Dolphins were reported but we didn't see any.
Once off the ferry we drove up to a lookout where we got a neat view of Picton and the sound we had travelled down, as well as the 'warehouse' that the Edwin Fox is kept in. I would love to see this ship, and was sorry we did not do so - maybe on the way home. Picton, so Ellen tells us, was named after Sir Thomas Picton, who fell at Waterloo. He also, I could have added, commanded the Fifth Battalion, where my direct ancestor, John Clayhill fought
Ellen is full of interesting little snippets about the places we are passing. This may get annoying if I am wanting a post-lunch nap, but was fine today. We stopped at Havelock (where William Pickering and Ernest Rutherford lived, along with our companion Sally) and browsed the rather nice little gallery. Driving through some wetlands I saw a spur-winged plover, one of my favourite birds. Coming into Nelson we stopped to have a look at a small street of vintage houses, all of which are still lived in.
Then on to the BeachcomberMotor Inn. Just time for a quick walk to the beach (passing a nice little library that is open for 3-4 hours each day) before racing back to be on the bus to our dinner reservation at the RSA. An adequate buffet meal, although Lloyd said the soup was excellent.
Nelson looks like a really nice place, and I hope we can return one day and spend more time here. Not just because some of my family lived here (there is a quay named after a Brunt relative) and still live here. Unfortunately Rex was out of the country, which was bad timing.
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