An entry in the TFS Travel Journal
(Today is Anzac Day in New Zealand)*
We dragged our butts out of bed to the sound of an early alarm for thankfully one of the last times on this trip. We had a quick room-service breakfast, drove to the ferry, checked our luggage and returned the car all in short order. The Interislander departed, and we watched Wellington in its little cove recede amongst the tree-filled hills. It was a chilly and blustery 3 hour crossing from the North to the South Island. The ferry was quite large, accomodating several hundred passengers and many trucks, and really took Milton back to his college days in London and many overnight rides on The Magic Bus/Ferry. We actually napped a little in their lounge chairs, read some, then went out on the upper “sun” deck to watch our approach to Picton as we navigated through the Marlborough Channel.
The channel was scenic, with lovely wooded hills rising up on both sides. While there was the occasional small private home, for the most part these were miles of pristine greenery through which the water meandered in many directions. We docked, picked up an identical rental car but in red, and motored off (still on the wrong side!) along the Queen Charlotte Drive to Nelson.
The QCD was a twisting, undulating 35km strip of asphalt that offered non-stop “hey-I-gotta-pull-over-and-take-a-picture” opportunities. We again felt as though we were back in Norway, as we gazed down upon long fjords set among pine forested mountains. There were also some charming little villages set into small, emerald bays that were filled with resting sailboats. As we merged onto route 6 (we must mention here that this is yet another country of single-lane roads; aside from 20 miles or so outside of Wellington and Auckland, all the roads in the entire country are single lane (each way) with frequent (though often not frequent enough!) passing lanes) the weather began to clear, and the sun appeared and really warmed things up.
The rest of the 2-hour drive was through mountains and forests, with many streams alongside of which we stopped a few times to take pictures of the trees that were now bright yellow or half-burgandy, half-green. It was like being in the most scenic New England mountains - on a beautiful crisp fall day - that just went on and on. (of course, as with everywhere we’ve been here, there were virtually no other cars whatsoever) We pulled into Nelson and cruised the little town in search of our guest house. The town is set between the base of some steep mountains and the ocean, and reminded us very much of a little ski town. The California House is a charming old manor house with only 4 guest rooms and the lovely hostess Shelly. We settled into the Everett room, then set off in search of our daily meal.
We walked a bit around the simple town, stopping at a bakery to sample their offerings which turned out to be pretty disappointing. We dined at Pomeroy’s, a delightful small cafe. We started with mussel chowder and pumpkin soup, both of which were fabulous. Main courses were smoked chicken with avocado and greens, and a salmon-mussel-smoked fish platter also with greens, all of which was wonderfully tasty. Their desserts were amazing and tempting, but we were full enough that we had only the apricot-almond torte and a honey/oat bar that we wrapped up and took away. As we dined, we saw several locals walk by outside and marvelled again at how many of them walk everywhere barefoot.
We strolled home, appreciating the cool air and star-filled sky, with a quick stop at the new Big Fresh. We saw the giant talking fruit and veggies and walked down red meat lane, but picked up only some new produce and a copy of Who magazine, the International version of People. It was then back home to sit and type in the large sitting room.
* Sort of their Memorial Day. It was originally to honor those soldiers from Australia and New Zealand who first fought together at the battle of Gallipoli in 1915. As the old soldiers have died off, however, it has morphed into a commemoration of all of the two countries’ veterans. (We think)