We left our slightly Bohemien 'half a hut in the woods' this morning for the final day of the NZ TR tour. First stop was the Te Waikoropupu Springs, the largest springs in NZ. We had a quick walk round and marvelled at the amount of water welling up from the 16 vents under the lake, then left following a few TRs along the road back over Takaka Hill.
Along the way Mick stopped to allow me to photograph this old house at the side of the road. We've seen several smaller ruins along the way, but seldom where I can get a good photo.
Going over the hill we spotted a few TRs at the side of the road. Stopping to see if we could help we found that John's car had completely stopped, luckily by a small parking area on a tight bend. A few checks diagnosed a faulty coil, but no one had a spare, and a garage was already on its way to assist. We heard later they'd got started OK, but had then experienced more problems as they went through Motueka. Hopefully they are now back on the road, and on their way home.
We continued on our route, visiting Marahau and Kaiteriteri, finally finishing at The Jesters for our final lunch of the tour. Good food, and we were amazed to see their tame eels accepting food (minced meat) from wooden sticks in the small stream by the side of the restaurant. It was with much regret that we said goodbye to our new friends, but now have several invites to call, have a meal and stay with several of them while we are touring the North Island, so more of an au revoir than goodbye.
We drove on, via Nelson and the outskirts of Blenheim, to Picton where we catch the ferry tomorrow to cross the Cook Straits to Wellington on the North Island. We managed to get to Picton 30 minutes before the Edwin Fox museum closed, and went to have a very quick look at this 1853 boat which was salvaged from the sands in Queen Charlotte Sound in the 1980s. It has been around the world 34 times, taken troops to the Crimean War, convicts to Australia, immigrants to NZ, freight to China and elsewhere and finally acted as a frozen meat transporter. It's amazing complete, and you can clearly see the double plank construction and the copper covering on the ship bottom.
We've now settled into our hotel for the night, and this is the view from our balcony! Nibbles and drinks on the terrace while I write the blog and Mick does the washing. When everything is dry we shall go and find food. Tomorrow we have to be up early - we need to check in for our ferry at 7 am.
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