'A Day Of Contrasts'

We woke up to fine weather in Picton this morning and went for a drive around the picturesque little town. I was hoping to show the kids the interislander ships that go over to the North Island, but the docks were empty.

I loved the drive from Picton through the wine country and then up through the hills and into Nelson. It seems that everywhere you drive in NZ the scenery in stunning which makes driving a real pleasure and the time just rolls on by.

We stopped for a coffee at a cafe called Lambretta's (yes, named after the Italian motor scooter company). The walls were covered with memorabilia and even 3 or 4 old scooters hanging high above the patrons. After that, we went for a wander up to see the Christ Church Catherdral overlooking the beautiful township of Nelson. What a wonderful chapel, there is a massive pipe organ inside which I will have to do some research on myself. A walk around the perimeter gardens was aslo well worth the effort as we saw some quite big butterflies fluttering about.

Drove down to the docks area and had fish n chips for lunch from 'Haven'. This was the best, freshest fish I've ever tasted in my life and highly reccommend it if you ever visit this area. This statue was down at the place where we ate our lunch in the nice sunshine of the day. The statue depicts some of the early settlers in the area which is the second oldest settlement in NZ. Looks like a new family member has been recently added. By this stage the weather was quite warm and we were sitting out in t shirts.

Headed off to Hokitika via Murchison and the weather gradually got worse and worse until the sky was covered with thick grey clouds and a steady rain falling. This didn't phase me at all and I stilled loved driving through the countryside.

We stopped of at the Red Barn, just north of Murchison to meet up with our fellow Blippers Kiwilizzie and TeeJay for a hot chocolate and a chat. Bella slept in the car for most of it with Ahma watching over her. It was great to meet up with them and we had a good chat for an hour plus. Found out that both seemed as passionate about their music as I am, and we're all looking forward to hopefully catching a Springsteen tour next year. The kids missed out on seeing the farm animals here as it was just too wet and the outside temperature had dropped to just 3 degrees.
Thanks for the catch up girls, it's nice to be able to match a personality to the wonderful photographs that I've been seeing in Blipworld, and drive through the great part of the world where you live.

Drove on to Hokitika and arrived at our Motel at around 7:30pm (still light rain falling).