Nelson to Picton

Had a nice continental breakfast at our hotel in Nelson (one of the nicest places we’ve stayed in on this trip), and went downtown for an hour or so for a last look around before hitting the road to head to Picton. The distance between these two towns is only about 114kms, but because of all the winding roads, and stops at lookout points, it took us a while to get here! Some beautiful scenery along the way, and we took the Queen Charlotte Pass road along the coastline so we could drink it all in! We arrived at our hotel around noon, and since it was too early to check in, left the car there and went for a walk around town - which doesn’t take long cos it’s a very small town at the northern most tip of the South Island. We went down to look at the ferry terminal where we will be leaving on the Interislander ferry tomorrow to head for the north island - had to get a pic of Dave “driving” the ferry!! We were going to go into the aquarium to see the blue penguins, but when we asked at the desk, the guy told us they were all out of penguins 😳. Not much point in going there then! Instead, we decided to have a quick lunch, and went to this little bakery that specializes in pies - and I might add the most delicious pies I’ve ever tasted! We then decided to check out the mall in town - if you can call it that! There were maybe 3 stores and a grocery store and that was it! I think by this time we’d seen all there was to see in Picton, so we came back to the hotel to rest for a couple of hours - with all the driving and walking of the past couple of days, we needed some down time. We had noticed on our trek through town that a pub called the Thirsty Pig had happy hour between 5 and 7, and a reasonably priced menu, so decided to go there for dinner. I think everyone who lives in Picton had the same idea, as it was packed and very loud - of course, the meat draw was a big attraction to the townsfolk, I’m sure!! 😂😂. They had a great British menu, so I threw caution to the wind and ordered the Bangers and Mash - and every bite was worth the gazillion calories! So that’s Picton - a small but pretty little town.... with no penguins!Read more