Yacht Club Picton

... mountains and little cottages. It was so pretty and peaceful. The vineyard owners are so lucky that they live here in the countryside. We tried some more nice wines and made friends with an old blind and deaf dog who loved having his chin tickled. Then it was time to go. We left the pretty valleys and headed back to Picton, where we asked about a boat trip for tomorrow and then lay about feeling like we'd had too much wine. We had more chocolate ...

... I had a go at driving on the way back to Collingwood. I was helped by the fact we had an automatic so no complicated clutch/gear changing to learn!! As long as I didnt crash we were fine!! It was mostly fine, I did find it hard to stay in the right position on the road. Also, New Zealand has loads of one lane bridges and there was one moment when I forgot to give way but it was ok in the end. I got up to 70km/h but that was ...

... on my day! I went to the Weta Cave having checked out, which is the museum / shop for the studios which have been involved in many big films, most notably The Lord Of The Rings. I gave myself plenty of time to board the ferry for a 1pm departure, but still managed to be the last car on board! The four hour journey ended at Picton on the South ...

... Island where we could spend 1hr or so on the island. It's a predator - free wildlife sanctuary and we were hoping to see the blue penguins up close and personal. Anyway, as we got out towards the island, the waves became a bit too choppy to be able to dock at the island safely. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but DOC (Department of Conservation) were in the process ...

Drove through vinyards and beautiful landscap again to Picton, main access to to the Marlborough sounds. The scenic drive to Nelson was again a real plaisure with the surounding mountains diving in the sea. I booked my "taxi speedboat" for tomorrow morning. It will carry me from Marahau to the heart of the Abel Tasman National Park and will make my way back on foot. The walk is supposed to be gorgeous and is given in 7h. I just hope the weather will continue to be excellent.

... was even more peaceful to listen to the water and take a deep breath. It may sound strange, but if you could capture and send a smell we would. When we decided that we couldn't sit there all day, we took a walk around past the many shops and cafes. We felt compelled to stop at an ice cream parlour simply because it was all pink. It was called 'Indulge', which is exactly what we did. The banana splits were amazing and just the thought of the chocolate-chip ice ...

... on the usual tourist stops at Speights Brewery and Cadbury's World (if Paul can't have beer cos he's driving then Julie can't have chocolate) mainly because we needed to press on to the tip of the Otago Peninsula where there was a very good chance of seeing the only mainland breeding colony of Royal Albatross. The birds are enormous - wing tip to wing tip they are about the same length as Julie stood on Paul's shoulders - and they reach amazing speeds without a single ...

... them) but Lester helped the other couple clean them so they could take them home. It was only when we came off the water we realised just how strong the sun was, it was baking hot and Dean's back was quite red. Lester has been taking photo's of us all day on his digital camera and he put them all onto a disc for us to take home for no extra charge. We said goodbye to the Swiss couple, apologised for soaking them and wished them good luck for the new baby. Lester then drove us back to ...

... stop - it's a beautifully situated little spot in the glorious Marlborough Sounds. Tonight we have a complete house to ourselves as the other five ensuite rooms are empty - so we even have a television each! It's the 8am ferry to the north island on Saturday, and hopefully a meeting with kiwi friends-from-home Adrian and Karen on Monday.<br>As well as usual greetings to family (including the e-enabled parents and Emily who has just had her first driving ...