Charlotte Sound, last day in South Island

  Picton, South Island, New Zealand
Sunday, February 22, 2009

EN:
Marlborough region produces our favorite New Zealand white wines - the Sauvignon Blanc is particularly good - so it was a shame we didn't have much time there as we arrived in the area on the day before we were to leave South Island. We got there in the middle of the afternoon and still had time to make a few sightseeing stops along the Marlborough Sounds before we settled for the night on a waterfront spot at a caravan park on the Queen Charlotte sound, just a few km from Picton, where we had to go next day for the ferry.

At the camping by the Queen Charlotte Sound

Our location was excellent, so we took the time to cook a proper meal and enjoy a nice dinner and a few drinks at sunset. There were a lot of "wild" ducks living around the park, these quickly found out what we were up to and decided to join us for dinner, before we knew it we were surrounded by very assertive ducks begging for pasta.

The next morning we continued driving to Picton where we arrived with plenty of time to spare before our ferry. From Picton the ferry sails along the Queen Charlotte Sound all the way to the Cook Straight, so the first part of the ferry trip was very nice and we could enjoy the amazing scenery. We loved the South Island and we were a bit sad to leave. Having spent longer than planned there, we found ourselves with just over a week for the North Island, so we decided we would try to extend our stay in NZ by one more week.

PT:
Brevemente...

CZ:
V oblasti Marlborough se pestuje a vyrabi nase oblibena znacka bileho vina Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2008, takze byla skoda, je jsme tu stravili pouze jeden den. Dorazili jsme sem brzy odpoledne, takze jsme si jeste mohli uzit pobrezi Marlborough Sounds. Na noc jsme se usidlili v karavanu v zatoce Queen Charlotte Sound, bylo to asi 10m od more a nekolik malo km od Pictonu (okdud nam druhy den jel trajekt na Severni ostrov).

Queen Charlotte Sound

Uzivali jsme si vyhlidky na zaliv, uvarili jsme si poradnou mnamku a otevreli lahvinku uz zminovaneho Sauvignonu, no a samozrejme jsme se kochali zapadem slunce. Pri veceri se k nam vetrelo nekolik "divokych" kachen a zebrali na nas testoviny, tak jsme jim nejake taky nechali.

Dalsi den rano jsme vyrazili do Pictonu a nalodili se na trajekt. Jelo se nam dobre a cestou jsme se kochali vyhledem na Queen Charlotte Sound a Cook Straight. Z Jizniho ostrova se nam ale vubec nechtelo, moc se nam tu libilo a opousteli jsme ho s tezkym srdcem. Zaroven jsme ale byli plni ocekavani co se tykalo Severniho ostrova a uz tehdy jsme vazne zacali uvazovat o tom, ze si nas pobyt na NZ o tyden prodlouzime. Na Jiznim ostrove jsme totiz stravili mnohem vice casu, nez jsme si puvodne naplanovali, ale rozhodne toho nelitujem. :-)