Picton Harbour |
I made my way across to the i-Site and spent quite a while uploading two week's worth of blog (I could use my IAC account there) and went through a back-log of emails. I had a very nice one from the police. Apparently when I was travelling through the back of beyond on my way to Queenstown, I was travelling at 111km/hour, and the national top speed limit is 100km/hour. They congratulated me, and presented me with an $80 fine. That was jolly nice of them I thought.
Having caught up with the rest of the world, I sauntered back to my wagon, idly stopping to look at the babbling fairly small Maitai River, which had been a raging torrent in December, causing much destruction. I have learnt a lot about the power of water on this trip.
Then it was a case of ploughing over the Bryant Range, much of it covered in pine plantations, with huge swathes freshly felled. The road across to Havelock was tortuous and uneventful. The only "excitement" was my cursing a couple of Kiwi lunatics who were hell bent on overtaking any vehicle if there was just over a car's length for them to slot in to. So much for keeping a safe distance from the vehicle in front.
Downtown Picton |
I had forgotten how convoluted the road from Havelock to Picton was. The speed limits of 50km/hour were hard to reach never mind exceed. For that extra twist of pain, rains came down with fearful ferocity.
But I reached my destination unhindered, and went straight to the ferry terminal to book a crossing back over to Wellington, and having no desire to arrive there at 11pm, I opted for the 8am crossing the next morning. That done, off to find a campsite. There I was given a warm welcome by a granny. "Just park anywhere you want in that area there," she said pointing to a map stuck on her desk. "You are really roughing it sleeping in a car," she added. I thought sleeping out in a one man tent would be even rougher, but I didn't raise the point. "It will be alright if I drive out at 06:30 in the morning?" I asked. "Just sneak out quietly and I won't hear you," she replied with a smile and a wink, "with ferries coming and going at all times of day and night we have to expect that."
Looking Down Queen Charlotte Sound |
Nearby stood a large covered area containing a large hull with a few holes down the side, the remains of the Edwin Fox. Would I define that as a ship? Debatable point. From a different viewpoint, would I call the Mary Rose in Portsmouth a ship? Large display boards outside stated how the Edwin Fox was the most diverse existing historic sailing ship in the world, having been more places and done more things in world trade than any other sailing ship. Its claims to fame were: the 9th oldest ship in the world, the oldest merchant ship in the world, the world's last surviving East Indiaman, the oldest surviving ship that brought immigrants to New Zealand, the last surviving ship out of 1040 that transported convicts to Australia, it had circumnavigated the globe 34 times, carried troops to the Crimean War, took Chinese labourers to the West Indies, took soldiers and beer to India, and carried tea and wool to England. Crumbs, I bet it is not in the Guinness Book of Records.
Hull of the Edwin Fox |
That was my height of excitement in this important gateway port, so I returned back to camp to calm down and watch the rain. The excitement was too much for me.