South Island summer

 

Remember you can click on the photo's to see larger image & please ignore  poor editing, doing this on the hoof :)  

Yikes, the 3.15am alarm call was a bit of a rude shock but up and packed and in the car to get in the queue for the 6.15am inter-island ferry from Wellington to Picton. We needed to check in at 5.15am and with  a 45min commute we gave ourselves plenty of time in case of any traffic snarl-ups.. even at that time in the morning.  It all worked out great and we lined up with many other bleary eyed travelers.

We could see the sunrise creeping up over the Orongorongo hills, gradually lighting up Wellington Harbour. It looked like a good day for a ferry crossing :)

Good bye Wellington - last snip of land before we entered the Cook Straight and the water was like velvet.  We saw a few hardy 'fisho's' way off shore on the edge of the trench fishing for deep water fish like Groper - they must have had an early start to get out so far so early.

Beautiful entry to the Marlborough Sounds - lots of yachts and fishing boats heading in all directions for a day of sea and sunshine.  

Many more salmon farms in the sounds than I remember.

Some of the land looked tinder dry but it makes for a stunning contrast between the blue, blue sea and sky. 

Just over three hours later we arrived in Picton. Time  to hunt out a spot for breakfast as we didn't fancy the breakfast on the boat, personally  I need to eat on dry land :)

Both Picton and Waikawa marina were buzzing with visitors and holiday makers which was great to see for the local retailers and hospo teams. Lots of groups of young people having fun together and enjoying the sunshine.

30 mins down the highway in Blenheim town we had a lovely stroll along a crystal clear Wairau river feeder stream and spotted what we think were either young trout or salmon. We had 40 winks under a shady tree, after all we had an early start. 

For our overseas pals Blenheim is the gateway to Marlborough - the country's largest  wine region and is famous for its world class Sauvignon Blanc.  You can see why the vines do so well here,  plentiful acreage of gravel soils from the Wairau river and stinking hot summer heat....its hot, hot, hot!

We had to check out the old Wairau River Rowing Club to see if it had changed from my rowing days all those years ago.  The river looked so inviting and fresh. 

Always a library and gallery fan we dipped our toes into a bit of 'culture' and visited the new whiz bang Blenheim library and art centre. Strangely the gallery didn't open until 1pm and we were moving on, however the building and design is beautiful. 

A great start to our exploring new opportunities in the south island, so far we like it!

Not quite the famed Marlborough Sav Blanc but a cheeky Squealing Pig Marlborough Chardy to end the day ..... perfecto!