When we booked, and also when we hired the car, they gave us a map of how to return the car to the ferry port, though I am not sure why they bother as the map is so stylised it actually doesn't tell you anything useful. Eventually we worked out that the system is that you just park up and drop your keys in to the box. We checked in and then boarded the ferry in the grey drizzle as the helmsman's face glowed white through the wheel house window above us.
We are in the "plus" lounge which gives us a breakfast and elevenses plus most important of all wifi! Free wifi is not an easy thing to come by in NZ. Most hotels seem to charge for access, which seems to be a bit of a cheek really when you have already paid for the room.
We settle down and get talking to a welsh couple sitting nearby who are doing a grand tour of the country by motorbike! - its a special trip for her 70th birthday and her choice - so much for growing old gracefully. Good on them. They did mention that they'd been here since mid Dec, and had only had 4 days without rain. Now I thought my own parents were rain gods, but these 2 trumped them easily.
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| The horizon is straight - its the boat that's leaning |
We sit and eat breakfast as we watch the deck lashed by rain and wind, only an idiot would be outside in this weather. So it's not long before I am out on deck with my camera, as are a couple of other brave souls with cameras. I get chatting with a local photographer who kindly explains what I would be able to see if the rain and wind weren't in the way. Alas all we could see was the helmsman's face glowing white through the wheel house window whilst the rain lashed the deck.
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| Queen Charlotte Sound through the rain |
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| It's brightening up - honest. |
As we approached Picton the rain eased off and breaks started to appear in the clouds. Was this the weather finally relenting? We could only hope. We disembarked and waited for our luggage to come round on the conveyor. It's always a nerve-wracking time when your cases don't appear for ages. I have visions of the baggage handlers riffling through my gear and making fashionable hats out of my underwear. But eventually it appears and we head off to pick up our new hire car. This is pretty easy as the car is literally outside the rental office & its a bit bigger than the one we had in North Island, so all our gear fits. Though I do wonder what caused the designer to fit a release catch to enable you to escape if you have been locked in the boot!
We have hardly been on South Island for more than a few minutes and we are already loving and appreciating the truly stunning scenery. We head of through vineyard country that is surrounded by mountains, and wow, its an amazing place. On our way, we stop at a vineyard and get a tasting of their various wines (well Maria does - I'm driving and its wasted on me anyway), and we seem to have to buy a few bottles - just in case the rest of South Island is bereft of wine.
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| Vines and Mountains |
The drive to Nelson is scenic, with mountains all around and the final drop down to sea level seems to redefine the concept of twisty. A long sweeping left handed bend is followed by a sharper right-hand hairpin then the combination of the two bends seems to repeat for hundreds of turns. By the end of it I was feeling quite dizzy. As was my co-pilot.
Once into Nelson we were looking for Trafalgar square (yes there is a bit of a Nelson theme to the road names with "Trafalgar Street", "Victory Road", "Nile Avenue", and "Kiss Me Hardy lane"). We drive round the place about three or four times but can't find Trafalgar Square on the map or in real life. Suddenly the local radio station we are listening to, announces that the Nelson New Years Eve bash is in Trafalgar Square at the very end of Trafalgar Street near the cathedral. The reason we couldn't get to it was all the roads had been blocked to prepare for the impending party. We manage to find our way round the road blocks eventually and find the hotel car park.
We check in and get allocated a room on the highest floor they have.We have a lovely meal in the restaurant (after Maria has done a spanish inquisition on the waiter regarding vegetarian options ) and it is a very pleasant way to celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary. Then we join the revellers in the town (just across the road), watching the bands and enjoying a really lovely, warm, New Years Eve atmosphere. Maria is now, however, obsessed with the lack of vegetarian foods and wishing some entrepreneur would come and fill the obvious market gap.
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| View of the cathedral from our room |
We head back to our room before midnight, as tiredness is beckoning after a long day ,and we can see and hear the whole thing from our room anyway. Then it's the countdown to midnight, a few fireworks and the last closing songs by The Doors tribute band, Finally as we settle for the night at the beginning of what I hope will be a wonderful 2012. I look out the window and I can just make out something, I'm not sure at first but as the smoke from the fireworks clears I can see it...yes it's the helmsman's face glowing white through the wheel house window!
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