7 March, Monday |
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Got up early
to catch the 8.25 ferry. Lovely smooth crossing. In Picton
drove out to Waikawa Bay and had seafood chowder at Echo Cafer & Bar
for lunch. Lovely sitting in the marina overlooking the water on
a nice day. Drove to Nelson with a stop at The Brick Oven Cafe
at Rai Valley for a mussel Pie. Passed through Nelson and spent
an hour or so at Marua. Bought some smoked fish from the
Smokehouse to use for dinner one night. Carried on to Motueka
and on to the Chalets at Terraced Gardens. |
8 March, Tuesday |
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Stayed for 2 nights at
the Chalets at Terraced Gardens 10 kms west of Motueka. Lovely
facilities. Caught the ferry from Kaiteriteri to Bark Bay and walked
on the Able Tasman Walkway to Torrent Bay. Lovely bush and
scenery, good track with 3 good climbs on the way. Good water
supplies and "flush toilets" available on the track. We were
told it would take 2 1/2 hours but only took us 1 1/2 so were able to
catch an earlier ferry back to Kaiteriteri. nice day, sunny and
warm but not hot. Drove to Marahau for a look. Visited Colin &
Christine in Motueka |
9 March, Wednesday |
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Drove over the Takaka hill, stopping at the Caves cafe
for coffee and then at the Salmon farm near Takaka for lunch.
Wandered through the shops in Takaka and then checked in to
a lovely
chalet at Eatery on the Rock. We ate at their restaurant that
evening for G's birthday - great food and friendly staff |
10 March, Thursday |
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We drove to Collingwood and had a coffee at the cafe
in the old Court House (good coffee and scones). No Cape
Farewell tours today as the tide is wrong so we then drove and finally
walked to the Cape. Drove west to the end of Wharariki Rd and
then walked to Wharariki Beach (lots of arches, huge rocks, and
caves). Drove back and went to the end of the road at Farewell
Spit (Puponga Bay). Had a coffee and shared a seafood chowder.
Walked eastwards out onto the spit for a couple of km, then crossed to
the ocean side and walked back into a strong westerly wind and back
across the spit to the carpark. On the way back called in at
Pupu Springs (G tripped on the track and ended up with a somewhat
bloody right knee and left arm - saved his camera from damage
though!). We were going to cook our own dinner but decided at
the last minute to eat at the restaurant. Just a main each as
the gurnard the previous night had been delicious. |
11 March, Friday |
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In the morning drove out to Pohara - nice beach
settlement and small port. Drove back to Motueka and called in
briefly to Colin & Christine and then headed to Nelson with a detour
via Kahurangi Vineyard (one of our favourites). Checked in to
Airport Greens Motel and caught up with emails etc. Cooked our
own dinner that night (with smoked salmon from The Smokehouse at Mapua). |
12 March, Saturday |
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Got up reasonably early and went to the Farmers'
Market in the central Nelson carpark. Went to Miyazu Japanese
Restaurant (In the Rutherford Hotel) in the evening and sat at the Sushi Bar - really
good sashimi and sushi. |
13 March, Sunday |
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Checked out of the motel, met Chris &
Joan Farrow downtown and went to a cafe for a coffee. Had a
great chat for well over an hour - great to catch up again. Then
drove to Renwick (with a stop for a mussel pie at Rai Valley of
course) to visit Annette's cousin Litty. Spent an enjoyable hour
or more chatting to her and talking about all the relatives Annette
wasn't really sure about. Then drove back to Havelock, right to
Linkwater, and then left and out to Sherrington Grange Farmstay on
Mahau Sound for 3 nights stay - a Xmas present form Simon & Jo
including a cheese course. |
14 March, Monday |
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The farmstay is run by Lisa and her
mother Julie. Dinners and breakfasts were great and the
accommodation we had was very spacious. Made cheddar and
parmesan cheeses with Lisa who runs a small commercial cheese business
on site. These are aging downstairs as I type this some weeks
later. The sound in front of the house had oysters and mussels
over many of the rocks so we spent an hour or so gathering oysters one
day. I probably ate a couple of dozen in the process and shucked
the other 3 doz and we brought them home. Went for a walk along
the road down the Sound in the afternoon. |
15 March, Tuesday |
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Lisa and Julie had just purchased a cow
and calf so Annette reverted to her teenage years and enjoyed feeding
the calf and milking the cow. That afternoon we walked along the
road in the other direction and called in on Lisa's brother Rob who
runs a beekeeping business and he showed us over his impressive honey
factory. We bought some of their honey on the way out the next
day. Also bought some cheese from Lisa before we left - actually
I think she gave it to us. |
16 March, Wednesday |
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This morning said goodbye to Lisa and
Julie and headed in to Havelock for lunch - another mussel pie -
and then went on to Renwick and out to Spy Valley Wines (another of
our favourites). Drove down to the Waihopai Satellite Receiving
Station to view the replacement radome that has been erected over the
attacked antenna. Drove to Lawson Hills Winery and then to
Picton where we stayed at the Harbour View Motels - Good locality with
a good view over the harbour. |
17 March, Thursday |
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Caught the 10.05 am sailing back to
Wellington The cheese
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