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We woke up early and had a great breakfast of blueberries, kiwi, cantaloupe, cereal,
and eggs, bacon, and sausage. Kathryne's a great cook! After breakfast we drove back to Picton
(about a half hour drive), where we boarded a Beachcomber cruise ship.
The man at the visitor's center had said the cruise would last from 9:30am to about 11:45.
Unfortunately, it was really supposed to be about 12:45. And it would last longer than that, still.
We wouldn't be concerned except we had to drive all the way to Motueka today. So that made us a bit
pensive during the cruise.
There were about 15 to 20 passengers on the boat, some of them with packs. Presumably
they'd be starting the Queen Charlotte Track today. They didn't have to carry much, though, as water
taxis could resupply them throughout the hike. As we headed out into Queen Charlotte Sound, we saw
dolphins racing alongside the boat! Eventually they peeled away and we were left with great
views of the many small bays to the left, Blumine Island looming in front of us.
Dolphin racing alongside the boat
The boat rocked violently when we passed through the wake of the Interisland ferry. Other
than that, though, it was relatively calm. I didn't suffer the seasickness that I've felt before.
The captain mentioned a 1986 Russian shipwreck which now lies in Queen Charlotte Sound, 120 feet under
water. It's owned by an insurer, in case you have ideas of doing any scavenging.
It took us about 1 hour to reach Motuara Island, where we had only about 15 minutes
before the boat would come back and pick us up. That's too bad, as there is a trail to the top of
the island; it would have been nice to see the view. You can apparently kayak to the island,
so that's one way of doing it. We saw several kayakers beached on the island. When we landed,
we quickly headed up the trail into the bush.
Bird on Motuara Island
Motuara Island is a bird sanctuary. We stopped occasionally to listen and watch for the
birds around us. We saw a few, but it takes more patience than 15 minutes allows. Too soon we had to
head back downhill and wait for the boat to return. There were only 6 of us now. The boat had taken
the other passengers on to Ship Cove to start their hike.
Forest on Motuara Island
Unfortunately, it would be much more than 6 of us by the time we got back. The boat made
several stops to pick up passengers or drop off packages. We stopped numerous times in Resolution
Bay and Endeavour Inlet. The longest stop was when we stopped at the Discovery Bay Center to pick
up a whole school full of kids who'd just had a 4 day camp, along with their counselors. They
loaded all of their gear into the middle of the boat, making a huge pile of packs and assorted gear,
fishing rods, etc. This time, when we went through the wake of the Interislander, the pile toppled
over.
View of the sound from the boat
After what seemed like an eternity, we finally reached the ferry terminal. We could have
waited for them to unload the kids and baggage, as the ship would eventually return to the pier
where we'd started. But that would have taken too long, and it was already 1:10pm. So we got off and
walked instead. We went to Le Cafe, which is where we were supposed to go the previous day. I had
a steak sandwich while Jean had a salad. I couldn't resist having a piece of cheesecake, as well. It was
all good. I'd go back there again. On our way out we noticed that the cook and waitress from Gibb's
was having lunch at Le Cafe.
We drove back to Antria, where we loaded our bags into our car and settled the bill before
Kathryne took us on a little excursion. She first drove us over to a Maori carver she knows. He had a studio
on his property where he showed us some of his necklaces which incorporated bone, shell, and greenstone all
in one. He also had clubs which he displayed to us, including one with a greenstone handle. Then he brought us over to the garage, where he
showed us some of the larger pieces he was working on. He showed us the head of a canoe he had just
finished! He'd been carving for about 40 years and the quality and experience definitely showed.
After the carver, Kathryne drove us up to a local potter. She had a small studio on site with
beautiful pottery of all shapes and sizes displayed in shelves. Jean and Kathryne eyed the pottery while I
walked outside and enjoyed the great views of the wineries below, with the brown hills in the distance.
One of Andy's Lord of the Rings figures
Jean and Kathryne at Antria
We returned to Antria where I took the opportunity to take a few pictures of Andy's Lord of the Rings
models. Then we said our goodbyes and stopped in at a grocery store in Blenheim. It was quite crowded for
a small town. We left Blenheim around 5:15pm, arriving at Nelson an hour an a half later. We kept going,
toward the small town of Motueka. The drive here is not nearly as pretty as the drive from Nelson to Blenheim.
Along the way we passed many blue circular signs with red crosses through them -- no words at all. I couldn't
figure out what they meant. Eventually I looked it up on the web and found out it means "No parking".
We passed through Motueka and shortly afterwards came across plants growing in rows, with wooden frames supporting
wires from which the plants were supported about 15 feet above the ground. We later found out that this was
probably kiwi fruit.
Shortly after Motueka the road begins climbing up Takaka Hill. We got great views of the surrounding
hillsides. Near the top of the hill, we turned into Kairuru, the sheep farm we were staying at. I hadn't been expecting much from a working sheep farm, but Jean
wanted to stay here. Nothing could have prepared me for the amazing views from the cottage. We stayed
in Kea Cottage, which has two bedrooms along with a kitchen and laundry. But the main attraction is the
view. We were high up on a hill, about 2000 feet above sea level, but we could see all the rolling green hills below us, leading down to
Abel Tasman National Park. We could clearly see Fisherman Island and part of Adele Island, sitting in the
sparkling waters of Tasman Bay.
Beautiful view from Kairuru
We'd arrived just before dusk, but we could see some sheep on the property, along with two peacocks
around our cottage. We enjoyed the views, then headed inside to have a dinner of soup, bread, and fruits
that we bought in Blenheim. On the coffee table was a book about the Kairuru farm, explaining some of its
history. The Henderson family bought the property back in 1916 and have lived on it ever since. It was
interesting reading about their clearing of the native bush, and their fear of winds carrying embers from
Australia which could set their homes ablaze. It's probably very hard to find, but for those of you who are
interested, the book is "Mountain Farm, Bush Farm" by Jim Henderson, ISBN 0-473-06257-7.
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