Picton to Hamner Springs

After getting in to Picton late last night, we knew today was always going to be a long one. We woke up to blue skies and the wind of last night seemed to have died down, so we headed for the ferry terminal to pick up our rental car via one of the local cafes for a very sophisticated toasted ham, cheese, tomato and caramelised onion croissant.

 

 

 

Taking delivery of our rental should have been an easy job, but the instructions about where to find the car weren’t immediately clear, so it took us a trip back the the booth after about 20 minutes of searching the wrong carpark, to clarify the actual location of the car. Now that we had wheels we started the days travels by taking the scenic route to Havelock on Queen Charlotte Drive. This is one of the great scenic drives for taking in the Marlborough Sounds. We stopped at a lookout over Whenaunui Bay around 10kms out of Picton… once we we’re safely out of controlled airspace and I launched the drone up to about 40 metres.

We drove a bit further and arrived at Ngakuta bay where I launched the drone again to about 70 metres to get some great views  firstly along the sound.

And then looking back to the popular recreation area.

Queen Charlotte Drive eventually finishes at Havelock, which is famous for it’s fresh mussels. When we last visited about 18 years ago, we ate at the same restaurant and although it has had a name change the feed of steamed mussels was just as good as we’d remembered.

From there we drove toward State Highway one which has only just been reopened after the Kaikora earthquake of November 2016 which measured 7.8 on the Richter Scale. This earthquake killed 2 people killed and 57 others were injured. There is still much work to be done to fully reopen the road. There are a number of spots where there is only one lane of traffic as work continues on removing land slips and in some places completely rebuilding the road. As we drove past kilometres on where the sea bed is now exposed it is a poignant reminder that there is no power greater than that of a natural disaster.

We stopped in Kaikora for some afternoon tea and there was a sense of optimism and jubilation that for the first time in months the main street was awash with cars and people.  The pharmacy shop assistant talked about how their business had been largely un-impacted because all the workers on the reconstruction still got sick and still had to buy medication. Many of the cafes have been closed to retail trade, but have survived by providing food for the workers.

After passing through Kaikora, we headed inland to Hanmer Springs, so called due the the thermal springs that feed the pools in the centre of the town. The water is believed to be rain that fell here about 200 years ago and seeped deep underground where it is heated by the earth’s core and expands. We had dinner a the Heritage Hotel which is one of the oldest buildings in town. The meal was excellent… especially the scallop entree.

We are staying in a cottage about 5 minutes from town. It is really well appointed and everything is very new … and the rooms are big…. and most excitingly for me it has a king size bed.

Until tomorrow!