7:30am Thursday, April 13, 2006 Picton

I had to get up early in Nelson to feed the parking meter. About 20 other people had to do the same thing. Some people had just crawled out of bed and could barely see because their eyes were so full of sand. Others had just finished showering and were glumly trudging to the meter with wet, uncombed hair. Finally, there were those horrible morning people who had been awake for a couple of hours already and had a spring in their step, a smile on their face, and said “Good morning!” to everyone they passed.

We left Nelson early and had a pleasant drive to Picton. Again, I followed the signs to the city center and eventually found an information center by the ferry terminal. We got directions to the hostel and suggestions for a couple of Internet cafés.

You have to be careful at Internet cafés here. Many of them will not let you plug in a Flash drive or copy files from a disc. In Gisborne the café operator explained why – he pays a flat rate for broadband service and a certain amount of traffic. He pays a metered rate for any additional traffic. So, when I enter an Internet café the first thing I have to ask is if they will allow me to use my Flash drive.

In Picton, the first Internet café that I went into was situated in the video store. I asked a woman at the counter if I could use my Flash drive and she quickly said “No”. I wasn’t sure if she knew what it was so I explained that it was like a disc that you put in the computer. She said “I know what it is. You can’t use it.” Fine. I asked if there were any Internet cafés that would allow me to use my Flash drive and she suggested the hostel and the library. I knew that the hostel usually didn’t allow Flash drives and doubted that the library would, and asked if there were any other cafés in town. She rudely replied “I just told you!” Sheesh.

I walked to the library next and asked the lady at the counter if I could use my Flash drive. “No problem”, she said. Yay! She showed me to a computer and explained that I could plug my Flash drive into the modem. Hunh? She was pointing downwards and when I looked down I saw that she was pointing to the PC tower. Ah.

I uploaded my photos and updated my blog. While I was doing that Mom walked around the town and had a coffee at the bakery. When she returned I was finished so I paid the librarian $4 for my Internet time and we drove to the hostel.

Unfortunately the hostel reception was closed and would re-open until the evening. We snooped around and found a bunch of lockers. We moved our hand luggage from the back seat of the car into a locker, then drove back to the information center to inquire about the mail boat ride.

In Marlborough Sound there are about 30 small homesteads that can only be accessed by boat. The post office pays a boat operator in Picton to deliver mail to these small homesteads. Tourists can pay $75 to go on the 5-hour trip. When we read about it in Canada we were really keen to go on the mail boat ride. However, after the disappoinment of the water taxi to Abel Tasman Park we were unsure whether we wanted to spend another afternoon on a boat staring out at trees, rocks, and beaches.

At the information center we asked if the trip was enjoyable. The woman was very enthusiastic about the ride, so decided to sign up for the trip. The mail boat didn’t depart until 1pm (it was just before noon) so we went across the road for lunch.

After lunch we wandered around the waterfront and found the dock where the mail boat was moored. I saw a yacht broker on the next finger so I wandered over to look at the listings. A wizened old man came out and asked if I wanted to buy all of them. I laughed, and explained that my friend Helena was thinking of picking up a boat in New Zealand and that I was just checking the listings for her. I asked about the boat construction and things like osmosis and the best place to buy boats. He patiently explained construction details and agreed that it wasn’t a good idea to buy a fiberglass boat built prior to 1980 because they were more prone to osmosis. He also confirmed that it was cheaper to buy boats in the smaller ports like Picton because in Auckland you pay city prices. He also explained that in Auckland people preferred lighter boats with huge sails because of the light winds in the region, and that those boats were unsuitable for sailing in the heavier wind in the southern regions. Good to know, I said. We had to board the mail boat so I thanked him, gratefully accepted a business card, and said goodbye.

The mailboat had two hulls and two moters, and was extremely fast. There was a top deck with rows of chairs and on a hot summer day would be fabulous. It wasn’t a hot summer day, however, so Mom and I only stayed up top for 15 minutes before the cold chased us down the stairs to the covered cabin.

View from the top deck:


We met two really nice Australian couples and chatted up a storm for the first part of the trip. We were amazed to see the small docks that the mail boat pulled up to. Ken, the mail man, simply opened a window by his chair and threw the boxes and mail bags up onto the docks. The locals duly threw mail bags back to Ken, who tossed the bags back into the cabin. Four-legged locals were extremely happy to see Ken because they were treated to biscuits. If Ken couldn’t hand a biscuit directly to a dog he put it into tiny blue “mail bags” with the name of the dog sewn into the bag, then tied the blue mail bag to the larger mail bags. The blue mail bag was opened as soon as possible, as you can imagine.

The quick hand-off of a propane tank:


At one homestead a woman handed an oblong parcel through the window. Ken turned to a fellow who had been helping him lift boxes up and said “You take this. I’m not good with these.” He was holding a 7-month-old baby that was tightly swaddled. The fellow was totally shocked and carefully took the baby. Then Ken helped the woman climb through the window and brought her two bags inside. The whole exchange reminded me of the Sunshine Coast where I’ve climbed onto more than one boat via a window.

I got talking to the woman and learned that she was heading to the North Island for her mother’s unveiling. I wasn’t sure what that was so she explained that a year after a Maori person dies the family meets again. I was having trouble hearing her over the engines so missed the rest of the explanation. I wonder if the unveiling involves the erection of a headstone at the cemetary?

We chatted for the rest of the trip. I learned that Rangi had travelled most of New Zealand for work. She worked for a demolition company and operated the big machines that knocked down buildings. Her partner was a builder, so I joked that he put up the buildings and she knocked them down. Her baby, Jaxom, was a happy little guy and kept staring at me and giving me these big grins. She explained that he loved being outdoors and only cried when she brought him into the house. A wise woman had predicted that he would be a strong leader one day, and I could see it – he was such a calm, observant, and happy guy.

Rangi and Jaxom:


We stopped at Ship’s Cove and had 15 minutes to go ashore to a cairn erected to honor Cook’s numerous visits to Marlborough Sound. On the walk to the cairn I noticed a rather large brown bird on the grass. I stopped and slowly pulled my camera out of my bag. I didn’t need to be cautious because the bird bravely walked right up to me, looking for food I assume. I learned later that the bird is called a weka.

Friendly little weka:


Cook cairn:


In Endeavor Inlet we stopped at a lonely wharf to pick up two people who had been hiking the Queen Charlotte Track. Then we went to another wharf to pick up another hiker, but he wasn’t there. We waited for 10 minutes, then Ken used the radio to ask if the hiker was at one of the homesteads. A fellow called back to say that the hiker was at another wharf. Ken grumbled and grudgingly went over to the other wharf. When the hiker got on board Ken asked why he wasn’t at the assigned pick-up location, the hiker shrugged and said he just didn’t want to walk any further. Ken rolled his eyes and turned the mail boat towards Picton, a full 30 minutes behind schedule.

Ken at the wheel, the view locals get:


We dropped Rangi and Jaxom off at the ferry terminal. This time Rangi had to climb the side of the boat then scramble onto the high ferry dock. When she was up on the dock Ken handed up her bags and then Jaxom. We waved goodbye and Ken took us back to the mail boat dock. We departed and happily walked back to the car and drove to the hostel, where we checked in and enjoyed a dinner of fried chicken from a café across the street.

We had an early night and slept well. This morning we will explore Picton a bit, then return the rental car and catch the ferry to Wellington.