This morning we called Liz on Skype to her mobile - turns out that Jen's Aunt Mary died about a week ago. She'd fallen and broken her hip, had it mended/replaced, seemed to be doing really well, gone home, was up about 2 am playing cards with her daughter Margaret who left her sitting up in bed doing word puzzles… and was still there the next morning, stone dead. Probably a heart attack and clearly not too hard on her (other than being dead), but an autopsy required, funeral Tuesday, so Jen won't make it. Shucks. We had, in Liz's words, "disappeared off the face of the planet" at just the wrong time. Thinking back, that was when we went up to Pudding Hill Lodge, no internet etc. and then on to Lake Clearwater, no phone or 'net, until Friday night. Wow, it WAS four days. Jen clearly moved but happy that it was not too stressful for her, and happy for Margaret who won't have to look after her later in life, and pleased she'd seen her not too long ago.
Not too far to drive today, only Nelson to Picton, and a late-ish start. However, not so late that when we saw a nice looking bakery/cafe we didn't both think "hmm, nice to stop for a coffee and cake in a bit". However, we didn't then see anything until we got to bloody Picton, 140 km later! The road was very cool though - the side road direct to Picton, log Queen Charlotte Sound, all bends and up/downs, massive views across the fiords, hard work but worth it. You stumble upon Picton almost by accident - a view down into the "town" (pop'n 4000!) affords a sight of hundreds or maybe thousands of stacked logs, in tidy rows of neat squares, waiting to be loaded and taken somewhere to be pulped or whatever.
Picton IS a small town, but lots of people moving through it constantly. We stopped at the Picton Bakkerij, with handy Drive-Thru, est'd 1981, to get buns and coffee - great buns, not very special machine coffee. They also do pies, apparently they're in the Lonely Planet Guide for this, including the Morroccan Marlborough Lamb special, of which they unfortunately had none today. Run out of lambs I guess… :-d A very lively bunch of sparrows at the tables too, highly amusing and well-cartoonable.
We still had a couple of hours to spare, so stooged around, looking in the Info place which was packed with people newly off the boats, asking lots of newbie questions about what to do where and when, and also with some brilliant postcards for 50c - a good deal if you ever need NZ cards! We also went in the park, sitting around outside a backpacker place while I did some email and stuff with one of the many wifi accounts I now have. Eventually it was time to check-in, so Jen stood up and immediately almost fell over, having stopped the blood in her leg sitting on the wall, and having no feeling in it! Soon remedied though…
We did however buy pies for lunch before we left - a chicken and camembert for her, and a steak n bacon for me. These were well good as we sat waiting for the boat to load. One of the queuing vehicles was undergoing repairs - a man lying underneath it with a set of tools, cans etc. There were bikers again but relatively tame, beardy BMW-types rather than the HD angel-alikes from the previous trip, and far fewer. Guess the chapter had to get into work today…
This is feeling a bit formulaic at the moment - the boat trip was really easy, very very flat, much flatter than last time, we had coffee, took pictures, laughed at two 20yr old guys and two 10yr old boys, both groups did exactly the same cheesy Titanic thing with the skinny bit of deck and were embarrassed by us looking at them, different older boat, far fewer people generally. Tottenham 2- 1 Everton also. Jen bought a NZ-logo cap, looks ok, and some glass gifts for Anne. We sat outside and switched sides to vary the wind/diesel relationship occasionally. No obvious signs of exotic wildlife, other than maybe a couple of Maori guys and an Asian lady trying to sleep under a crazily coloured towel with her book on her face.
Wellington looked almost familiar, and it's strange how at home we feel now compared with the last time we came through here. So much has happened, have we changed? I happily do 110, tailgating the next guy in the fast lane, competing for space in the Wellingtonian rush hour. The highway is an urban motorway, flanked by industrial units and suchlike - we could be anywhere! But we aren't…
Keen to make some time up before the slog of tomorrow, we press on north, reaching Levin to stay at the Levin Motor Camp. It's a tidy spot. Yesterday I craved pizza, so today we get Pizza Hut pizza with garlic bread, and eat it with beer back at the van. Tastes ok, but I wanted stone-baked, wood fired… should have gone to Italy then. It'll be bed time soon, one holiday sleep less, boo.
No comments:
Post a Comment