Best Western Koromiko Motel Picton

... Hoped they turned out ok?<br><br>An even earlier start today as we had to take the drive to Picton to get the ferry to the north island. It was still dark when we left and didn't stop raining, which made the drive around the twisting road quite tricky, Frisbee sat in the front to help prevent himself from turning green with car sickness again. We arrived in Picton in plenty of time and caught the ferry with no problems but unfortunately due to the rain we couldn't see much as the cloud ...

... with Greg. We left towards Picton, where we will take the ferry from the following day.Unfortunately, the wine trail was on our way again, so we had no choice but stopping at a few places again for some tasting!!!! This time, the places were not as good.We ended up in a really cool place by the graveyard(the door looks like a coffin!) and had a nice night with some Americans and Germans

... snow-capped mountains I can't resist but nevertheless I reached my destination in a couple of hours. I found a very nice and reasonable place to stay the Spa Lodge Motel, the best accommodation I have had yet and no more expensive, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and lounge what luxury, with all due respect to the backpackers I have stayed at, I appreciated my own space sometimes.<br><br>Hanmer Springs is well known mainly because of its hot pools, after exploring around ...

... are made in Marlborough and also world wide, he knew a lot about the area and the history. He was also able to advise on things to see when we left Marlborough and he was right. He could answer most questions and those he couldn't he would ring someone or ask at a winery.<br>At no point on the tour did we feel like we were being rushed and the way we were welcomed at the wineries suggests they were looking forward to our visit, I regulary visit wineries in the Hunter ...

... looking for food. We did a key swap along parts of the Queen Charlotte Sound. Sandi dropped Bad off at Portage and shortly after it started pouring on him. He ran the 13 miles day hike in 2 hours, while Sandi had a peaceful, dry hike from the other end. Both of us thought it was beautiful though.

... fine, pretty ok guy. When we got off the ferry at Picton it was dark and around 8pm or so. I knew I had missed the free chocolate cake which the hostel dishes out after dinner time (damn it!) But this guy was getting his rental car from Avis and offered me a lift to the hostel. Not exactly hitch hiking you say but it's as close as I'll ever get to it again! So I weighed up the option of walking into town alone, in the dark with ...

... would obscure the view but very so often, the trees would make way for a spectacular view of the ocean and the many coves and beaches we passed. The sun would peek through the trees and light up the trail in front of us. We stopped by a tree and had our lunch and then continued. About 20 minutes later, we happened upon two benches. As soon as we sat down, a fat weka came straight towards us hankering for some food. Mike fed it some of his pear, which it seemed to enjoy. At ...

... there. It seems an extremely independent life. In every bay there were mussel beds. These consist of a line of big buoys, up to 100 metres long, with two 'tramline' ropes joining each end of them. From the tramlines, individual lines drop vertically and these are what the green shelled mussels are attached to. The mussels take two years before they are big enough to be harvested and each floating bed holds sixty tons of mussels. The mussels are harvested by large ...

... incredible to see the enormous space left by the glacier's retreat and the size of the rocks and debris left behind. The amount of crystal clear melt water continuously flowing from the foot of the ice face was also pretty amazing. Although dirtied by rock fall the glacier even from that low vantage point is still strangely beautiful. It would have been great to get up on the glacier itself but the mountain weather was closing in and it wouldn't have been wise. We made ...

... the business, England and how much he loves our old buildings and history. He is so friendly and easy to talk to; one of those people that is impossible not to like. We were surprised how far he had come to pick us up, it was a fifty minute drive. It was nice for Dean though to watch the scenery and let someone else do the driving for a change. When we got there, we met the other two people on the trip with us - a young Swiss couple, I fail to remember his name but she was called ...