Final days in New Zealand

At a point, Wendy and I returned to the South Island, leaving Lynndeen with her daughters to get a grip on things and make some very difficult decisions about Jim.  It was very difficult to leave them but we had done what we could do.  We were able to stay in touch by phone and email. Our stuff was on the South Island and our tickets back home were from there.  We had some real misgivings, as you can tell.

We had a few days left on our bike rental and thought long and hard about whether that was what we wanted to do, but in the end we went for it.  No coersion from me, either.  She had to decide that without any of my usual badgering.  We rode about three hours to the town of Picton, which is a coastal town on the North side, fronting on the Marlborough Sound.  On the way we drove along the coast on yet another awesome road and found one of my colleagues' cars there. 

Picton is where the ferries come in from theNorth Island, and it is a busy port.  It is where we tried to sleep as the warnings were being issued about NZ likely to be hit with tsunami waves from the Japan earthquake.  That nightmare never happened, however.

One of the coolest things we discovered in Picton was this little coal-fired steam launch run by Roger, this good old boy who takes people for rides every day.  We could not pass on this one.

We had a sort of private tour because the only other folks on the boat were friends of his and his wifes, so we had fun chatting with them as we slowly made our way.  Note the cool engine.  There is an open bag of coal you cannot see which he had to shovel into the boiler now and then. 

Leaving Picton we chose the less adventurous road which went south to the town of Blenheim, right in the heart of the Marlborough wine district.  They make wonderful wines here, especially the whites like Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris.  The reds need a little work in our opinion, but the whites are some of the best we have tasted.  In Blenheim was a museum of WWI aircraft which is owned and created by the guy Jackson, a Kiwi, who made the Lord of the Ring movie series.  He put his money and his creative resources to good use here.  Each display is a recreated scene, very life-like with actual aircraft from the era.  Hard to photograph in there, but this gives you the idea.

  

MARLBOROUGH SOUND

After returning to Nelson and turning in the bikes, our new friends Kay and Joe picked us up and we drove to their "cabin" to spend a couple days and do some fishing with them.  What wonderful people they are.  They helped us make the best of a sad time, for sure.  For you Google Earth users, their bach (pronounced "batch" and is their word for cabin, is at a litttle settlement called Penzance, NZ and you can search it on the Google Earth search bar.  Quite an interesting road to get there.  They put the very narrow winding road AROUND a big tree.  Do note the strange gnome behind the tree.

We got out two days to fish and had pretty good luck.

That was a little red snapper.  Here is Joe and I with our Blue Cod we caught.  Note which one is bigger.

We were visited by about 50 dolphins in the bay one afternoon.

We had to get gas on the way home at a dock not far from their little place.

When we got home we made a dinner of snapper, mussels and cod.  Yum!

That night Joe asked if I would like to go hunting for possums.  Of course.  So we set out in the pouring rain witha spotlight and a .22 rifle and looked in the trees til we saw some.  In place, as youi walk in the woods near wet areas, the embankments are covered with little lights that look like stars in the sky, but beside youi instead of above you.  Kind of like lightning bugs that stay on all the time.  They are glow worms and are interesting to see.  Earlier in the trip we took inner tubes and floated through acave where the ceiling was covered with glow worms.  That was a really interesting way to se them.  Had it been night youi wold think you were looking at the sky. 

The possums are not hard to find.  They are tree climbers and their ayes glow in the spotlight.  They are  an introduced species and are making a big pest of themselves by eating all the bird eggs.  Some of their birds are near extinction because of the possums.  Possums in New Zealand also are very different than North American possums and they have a very desirable fur, which is spun with Merino wool to make fabrics.  And of course I had to provide some for my wife.  So there were several good reasons to go blast the little suckers.  We plucked the fur, so it could be used.  Very soft.  Wendy was actually able to get some back into the country.

As we left the bach, some parting photos.

The dog is named Beau, and he was awesome to have along.  He can actually say the word Opaoara, which is the name of a valley where they live.  Dont believe me?  Go there.