Driving back to Picton

Had a leisurely (and immense*) breakfast at the Bealey before we headed off towards the ferry. The thermometer in the car showed a nippy 8°C or 46.5°F. Warm for the folks back home but rather bracing here. As we drove down into the valley, the temperature fell by 3 degrees. As the day went on the sun came out though and the fog and clouds burned away and the temperature rose to about 16 or so.

We stopped in an area called Castlehill to look around – quite different rock formations jutting out of the rolling hills. It wasn’t hard to imagine these into the ruins of some long ago fortress but it was just the ever-moving land of New Zealand doing its thing.

Then it was on through small towns with awesome views of the mountains or the ocean. We stopped and had a tasty lunch in a place that was part wine shop, part art gallery and part cafe. My lunch was MUCH larger* and fancier than it had looked in the display case.

The ocean was rolling and crashing in ways we hadn’t seen on the way up through the same area. I spotted a couple guys surfing. Big waves!

We stopped to see two friends of Marge in Picton and had a nice visit, chatting about past and future cruises and trips.

Then it was off to meet the ferry and get checked in. Only problem being that the weather had delayed check-in and launch by about an hour. So we hung out for awhile using the free wifi in the terminal before getting back in the Prius and driving onto the boat.

I ordered a bit of dinner while we were waiting for the ferry to start out. A sampler of spreads and olives with turkish bread. It was huge*. I ate as much of it as I could and brought the rest back to the kitchen before the ship started to roll as we hit Cook’s Bay.

* The theme for today seemed to be “She must be hungry, let’s give her LOADS of food!” I apologize for not taking a photo of breakfast (about 2 cups of muesli, a cup of mixed fruit, milk, tea and some toast) and lunch (a really large mince and cheese pie and a ridiculous brownie that didn’t warn at all about the raspberry topping and whipped cream that came on it and a pot of tea).

Meanwhile, Flickr seems balkish about working on the high seas but let’s see if wordpress will do its thing. Marge finds it amusing that I’m sitting here rolling with the lurch just typing away.