We packed up our belonging and a poorly Carys for another long trip to the Marlborough region. Despite the lonely planet describing the West Coast highway as one of the top 10 road trips in the world, we decided to take the shorter route across the country. 61/2 hours seemed like long enough for our long suffering kids. The journey itself seems to have faded to a blur, but our destination has not. It was spectacular. We rented a holiday home perched on a cliff overlooking the Marlborough sound, complete with a titanic style deck jutting out. It was the perfect place to spend time, Carys just lay on the sofa dozing while the rest of us pottered around dreaming of future trips when we might be able to walk the Queen Charlotte track and stay in some mountain huts.
Howard's ill fated sea kayaking was cancelled, but I managed to spend a morning kayaking around Okiwa Bay. It was a bit like a drier version of snorkelling as I was able to see loads of fish, star fish, sting rays, and jellyfish from the kayak. I even picked up a small jelly fish after being assured it wouldn't hurt me. They melt in your hands, leaving you feeling a bit slimy. It also allows you to see the shore line and lots of birds in a way that you normally just can't because of the dense forest.
We spent a wet afternoon in Havelock, a tiny harbour town which call itself the 'Greenshell Mussel Capital of the world'. As well as fabulous mussel (although I feel I couldn't really tell the difference between them and our European counterparts), they have a quaint little museum called 'a fish eye view'. You wander through a few rooms set out as being at the bottom of the sea. With various fish, shellfish, and plant life suspended about you. It certainly captivated us for an hour.
But what about the wine I hear you ask. Well it was good, and Cloudy Bay has a good selection of toys, Montanna has a great playground, and Wither Hills has an interesting building. Other than that you'll have to ask Howard.
The drive back to Christchurch was exciting as all along the coast there were hundreds of seals just lying on the beaches. Although some of us refused to get out of the car as it was drizzling!
Overall we found New Zealand spectacular, windy and a bit frustrating. It is all set up around doing outdoor activities that we just couldn't manage, but would have liked to do. The scale was so big in comparison with the UK, that getting around seemed to take ages. It was hard to do walks other than the long distance trails because of the forest, and our kids weren't old enough for water sports or drinking. Maybe next time..................
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