Picton & Blenheim

As per the norm in most of my trips, an early morning to catch the ferry to the South Island. What was perhaps slightly, but sadly not entirely out of the norm, was the change of mood.







Dropping off our rental car and checking in our bags was a bit of a messy process, but we made it through and found ourselves in the packed waiting room, ready to board.





After waiting for the cafeteria to open, I got myself a cup of English Breakfast and square of cold carrot cake.



I went back to the deck from time-to-time; the wind was as strong as ever, but the clouds slowly melted away, allowing the sun to light up the brilliant blue of the water.





After arriving in Picton, we found our rental car, of which the key was awaiting us in the front licence plate. We hit the road, and immediately, I found myself warming up to the South Island. The hills of green, the bright blue sky - even the air felt fresher.




We arrived at our residence in Blenheim, which ended up being our favourite of all our accommodations. A homey, cottage-like dwelling whereupon I got my own room once again. Also, the way to my heart is undoubtedly through my stomach, and our hosts left a plate of cookies for us, so you can do the math.




We headed into town for some sustenance; and as it was a public holiday, our offerings were limited to about one cafe in town.




Pineapple lump old-fashioned milkshake and our first meat pies in New Zealand at the CBD Cafe.




After lunch, we went grocery shopping for our dinner and breakfast the next morning, where I found some new Haribo.



When we headed back in to drop off our items, we got a visitor.




Our original plan was to rent bicycles and cycle by the water, but due to the public holiday, the rental place was closed. Instead, we walked to the nearby Pollard Park.




Lest We Forget. The 100-year anniversary of the conclusion of WWI. I wish I was able to capture it better, but I couldn't get high enough to get a good angle, but believe me when I said it was very beautiful.






There was a rose garden nearby, with roses beginning to bloom. I took several photographs of my favourite names, but I'll spare you and only show a handful.





It was the perfect afternoon to just sit and relax in the shade of this great tree budding with pink. We had a nice, intimate chat that we weren't able to do so in awhile.




We came back to our visitor dropping by again, and sneaking their way into our little house.




We fumbled together a dinner from our grocery store goods, and then I sat down to write my postcards, and then realized the stamps were all the kind that required water, so I stood by the tap and left with sticky fingers and many damp postcards, which I thought would be a good idea to stack together under my book to make sure the stamps stayed sealed.

With that, our first day on the South Island came to a conclusion.