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| More timber ready for shipping out. |
The ship docked this morning in Picton which is a small seaport at the head of the Queen Charlotte Sound and famous for its Marlborough region wines. The temperature was a pleasant 20C.
Before taking the short shuttle bus into the town, we were welcomed by the volunteer flower ladies of Picton who had made small posies for every passenger coming off the ship, they were all very different (the posies, not the women).
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| Posy on my hat |
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| More posies from the volunteers |
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| Robert Gemmell Tai Chi studio and house |
We were take the short distance into town by shuttle bus, and on the way we passed a house with a sign out the front saying free Tai Chi classes every day, at 8 AM. l checked it out after we stopped, and found that it’s run by Robert Gemmell who teaches both Tai Chi and martial arts - a nice connection.
Rather than take expensive ship excursions, we just spent the day exploring the town and its attractions.
Picton was a major base for whaling and is now the South Island port for the inter-island ferries. It’s a charming little town with an aquarium and the society for the restoration of the 19th-century ship, Edwin Fox – the “9th oldest ship in the world” and “Once fully restored, it will serve as a floating maritime museum”.
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| Edwin Fox Museum |
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| The promise |
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| The reality |
Once a magnificent merchant ship, it ended its life as a floating refrigerator for frozen sheep then a coal barge. The promotional material seems to outweigh the actual condition of the ship which is a crumbling shell of rotten wood. I think the restoration is "aspirational" rather than "actual". Not exactly sure which bits could actually be "restored". From what I could see it consisted of a rotted out hull only.
We then explored the bay (and local markets) before visiting the whaling museum.
This again is a volunteer-driven museum but had lots of useful information about the industry and the Marlborough region, including local Maori history and culture.
Frances found an old geography book from 1907 in a little schoolroom display which had fairly quaint analyses of different cultures around the world – we loved the entry for Holland.
After that we went checked out the market which included "Golliwogs" with an explanation why they were not racist and had a bite to eat.
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| Markets |
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| "Politically Correct"? golliwogs |
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| Bridge to Bob's Bay |
Then in the early afternoon, we went for a 1 hour round trip walk to Bob’s Bay through the bush which was really good, with views over Picton and the bay. We quite like the quirky sense of humour as displayed in the sign on the bridge to Bob's Bay - "OK you can have fun".
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| OK to have fun |
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| Map to Bob's Bay |
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| Signpost |
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| Track to Bob's Bay |
Frances of course had to have a swim, and although the locals said the water was fine, Frances found it a bit cold – I tried to avoid contact with the water.
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| A little Tai Chi |
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| The water's not toooo cold! |
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| View of the cruise ship across the bay |
The mourning was quite sunny, but later it began to rain so we bought some local Marlborough wine to take back on board. Of course, shortly after boarding the ship, the sun came out again!
After a fairly long day, we were looking forward to dinner and a show, while the ship sails for Wellington on the North Island overnight.
We then explored the bay (and local markets) before visiting the whaling museum.
