Cruising Australia and New Zealand (Part 3)
On shore by 9 AM, we spent 6 hours exploring the area aboard a delightful old fashioned train. We rode from shipside up into the hills and explored deep gorges, had lunch aboard, some good New Zealand wine, and after a few stops along the way for scenic views, we headed back to Dunedin. We finished the day by walking around the city and visiting some shops and an art museum. We are sailing away in the evening sunlight and heading for Christchurch, our next port.
Security is an in and out proposition and is rigid. New Zealand is devoted to keeping out agricultural products (for disease control), so we must put all bags though X-Ray when leaving the ship, go through the same type of screener that is found at airports and, the ladies have their bags sniffed by little, cute dogs as their police masters look for any sign of contraband. Returning to the ship, before boarding, police check both ship identity cards and demand a government produced photo document (passport or driver’s license). There is a new reality in this world wherever you go.
Now it is morning, Christchurch looks beautiful as we land for our day here. The weather is a bit grim but time to make lemonade out of lemons. It is still cloudy and the air cool. Where is summer? Star and Mark, our traveling companions, and we, much prefer non organized (disorganized?) touring,and prefer private cars and drivers. We found Howard, a driver with a most comfortable car, and off we went for sightseeing, neighborhood watching, and experiencing a mini rock climb atop a high hill with vistas on all sides of us that were breathtaking. Howard was most informative and made the day great fun. At morning’s end, we were in the town center, had lunch at a delightful little place called Sticky Fingers, walked around the square, looked at a flea market, watched street performers and by pre arrangement, were again picked up by Howard for another short journey to an Antarctic Museum (didn't stay) and some shopping, and then, back to the ship for a nap. Later, another round of great conversation, watching the land slip by as we sailed away for Picton.
In Dunedin, we had viewed a most interesting exhibit of paintings by a well known Australian artist, Rita Angus. She was a feminist long before it was popular to be one, and a pacifist. Her work was most fascinating, both in her portraits and landscapes. The landscapes had us curious. In this land of green and lush fields and meadows, her landscape colors were muted and low key. We didn't understand her brown and almost lonely mountains. Once we downloaded pictures from the mountains of Dunedin into our computer and viewed them, miraculously, what we had was an almost exact replica of a Rita Angus color scheme, all muted, and browned out, with lonely mountains in the background. That’s one to think upon.
Picton welcomed us with another perfectly beautiful sail into harbor. An especially exciting day for us, for we were in wine country, Marlborough country, home of Cloudy Bay, our favorite Sauvignon Blanc, and many other wonderful wines. After waiting for the tours to clear ship, we took a short shuttle ride into town (totally beautiful and charming little place on the water’s edge), hired a car and our terrific driver, John, soon had us in the vineyards, beautiful, trimmed and magnificently maintained vineyards, Mountains all around made us immediately recall our beloved Sonoma county, and our own wonderful days living in California’s wine country. Needless to say, first stop was Cloudy Bay where we had a delightful time tasting and purchasing (at almost half the price we pay in the U.S.), that white nectar known as Sauvignon Blanc. What fun to talk wine and sip it in such a lovely place, the sun shining outside as we looked at the vines spreading out as far as we could see. Next stop, fabulous Omaka Heritage Centre to view film director Peter Jackson’s (Lord of the Rings) private collection of WW I airplanes. What a terrific experience, many of the planes are one of a kind, many are displayed in realistic settings complete with life-size models of airmen and ground soldiers. This is a venue that should not be missed!
Lunch was a treat as we sat in the vineyards of the Wairau River Winery, enjoying the view and clear air and sunshine. The food was really good (local green lip mussels and steak) and of course, we just had to enjoy a lovely Sauvignon Blanc before we headed back to Picton. On the way we stopped at a local chocolate factory, watched them hand make their product, sampled a few items, and headed back to our ship, having had a perfect day. As we write, we are sailing away to Wellington, gliding along an incredibly beautiful sunlit waterway, reaching for the open sea.
