Picton, NZ

Picton?!

With a population of barely 4000, picton really is just a blip on the map. Our interislander crossed Cook Strait with ease and arched into the sounds under the clearest of skies and flattest of seas. But this was all just an image in the window as we capitalised on the 3 hours down time to do some yakka.

Cat the grinch keeps spoiling our holiday with requests for work days which i duly oblige - as to be fair, I still have a part time job too! Save for a short walk around town and another up a nearby hill, work was the essence of our first day here - shame as the weather was bloody glorious!

Fortunately we wrangled Tuesday off for an exploration of the Queen Charlotte Sound / Track. Another gorgeous day presented itself: blue on green on blue, mwah! We'd signed up last minute for a guided kayak and mountain bike and had no trouble securing our place as the sole tourists on a public tour at Sea Kayak Adventures. I've forgotten how good it is to have a guide. Aaron looked after us like we were cash in an economic crisis. Oh wait, we were.

Our faff free preparations and surprisingly enthusiastic briefings wooshed by and, without even pausing to shut the car door, we were on the water. Icy water, that is. Icy and glassy. Perfect. Our first visitor was a jumping seal, an early highlight, followed by the most unstressful, undemanding, informative kayak one could ever hope for. My preconcieved images of freezing ocean spray, gut-busting headwinds and double-kayak bickering never came close to fruition.

We lazed through the sound from Anakiwa Bay to Mistletoe bay, pausing to learn about the history of the area, the wildlife and the human life in the area. Fun fact of the day definitely goes to the pine trees, so here's a little did you know: pine trees are the humans of the forest. They grow so big and so fast that little else can compete. Their needles contain poison which when decaying spoils the soil for any other growth. Once a pine tree establishes itself, if it's not killed it will take over the native bush. Hence, why they are being poisoned throughout our National Parks. Bored yet?

After working the arms, we jumped on the bikes to finish the workout. Aaron had pre-dropped our bikes at Mistletoe bay - how good! We pumped up the big hill, had a bite to eat, then cruised the Queen Charlotte track all the way back to Anakiwa, with some awesome flowing downhills which would excite even the least enthusiastic of sore-bummed bikers (cough cough). The views were indescribable. Literally.

All in a days work; we were back in Picton by nightfall for a few hours work and a dodgy Asian feed.

Wednesday brought more work, which was done from our wee hotel room. We managed a quick dart over to Blenheim for lunch in the sun at a german brewhouse and finished the daylight hours with a beautiful jog up the Snout Track to witness a 10 out of 10 sunset over QCS. Being a drinking day (yes, Cat is very strict about our sobriety on Mondays and Tuesdays), we stumbled across a pub-quiz-pizza-special night at Oxleys. We embarrassed ourselves profoundly, took the wooden spoon (no surprises there), and otherwise thoroughly enjoyed the night which featured some heated local rivalry, a tardy jazz pianist and a surprisingly talented quizmaster.

Next stop Nelson.

Coronavirus update: still no cases!Read more