January 24
Picton
[Picton is at the northern tip of South Island; the following day we would be in the capital city of Wellington on the southern tip of North Island. Picton is similar Timaru, but placed at the end of a long bay.]
[I’d never heard of Picton before. But then I’d never heard of Timaru before either. It doesn’t make me a bad person (?). I had heard of Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch, and Nelson – I am a geography major, after all. We even have friends who have relatives in Nelson, which is not that far from Picton.]
[The Super took this approaching photo . . . ]
[Then I took over the landing . . . ]
[Looks like another picturesque destination!]
[And looking back at whence we came . . . ]
[Beautiful day, beautiful scenery!]
[The Super took this shot – the transportation between North and South Islands.]
[And we’re ashore . . . ]
[Looks like a tropical island, n’est-ce pas?]
[The Super took the next 4 shots, first looking back at the Maasdam . . . ]
[As an older person, I really appreciate a well-marked restroom!]
[G’day, mates, from a land down under!]
[And back to me, what she was taking a photo of . . ]
[The Super’s, as we left the waterfront ascending into town.]
[Then my same shot.]
[Then obviously the Super’s, with downtown Picton in the background. Yup, that’s the main drag.]
[Now what waterfront is complete without a classic bar/restaurant? The boys spent some time here while the girls shopped.]
[Please read the sign all the way to the bottom. Thank you.]
[A quaint – yet perfect – harbor.]
[We’re going for a stroll now . . . ]
[The previous shot was from this foot bridge.]
[The Super took 2 shots of the commencement of our soon to be identified hike.]
[And here it is identified – note the listed time for this adventure.]
[On our way, the Super took the next two . . . ]
[And I this one.]
[Then three more from the Super . . . ]
[You will note this was not a casual beach walk . . . ]
[We’re already rising in elevation.]
[These next two are mine . . . ]
[This was an obvious photo op setting, but I had to wait for two-way pedestrian traffic to subside to get this shot. Smile, Ruthie!]
[Onward . . . ]
[The Super got these next two . . . ]
[And I the latter.]
[The complete and total history of Bob’s Bay Walk, all on a single plaque.]
[And from where we are . . . ]
[From where we were.]
[We made it to the end of the 30-minute walk in about 45 minutes, as I recall. Granted we paused for photos, but the hike involved some elevation changes.]
[A STAR . . . fish]
[In the Super’s shot, you will note it has an odd number of appendages . . . ]
[Back to mine, with Anne exploring up the beach line.]
[And we met a couple here. He volunteered to take our group photo. She, as part of the small world syndrome, was a marine biologist from the University of Miami and originally from Hastings, Minnesota. Go figure.]
[As we left, climbing back up the hill, a shot back down to the beach where a family so wanting to swim just went in with their clothes on.]
[We climbed the mountain, through a dense rain forest, heading back to town.]
[The views were probably worth it.]
[A place to sit down, catch our breath, and have a drink.]
[The Super took the next three. Yeah, it was warm, but I find it easier to wear a windbreaker than to carry it.]
[We appear to be approaching town.]
[I confirm the Super’s picture.]
[We’re all the way back to the foot bridge, crossing back into town . . .]
[From which we noticed a rather large ray in the water.]
[We survived the Bob’s Bay Walk!]
[Ahhh, back to civilization.]
[And now heading back down to the waterfront enroute back to the ship.]
[Still looks like a resort destination.]
[If it looks like a duck and swims like a duck . . . ]
[These are called flowers. They look and smell pretty.]
I love it when the flight attendant says, “Your seat cushion becomes a flotation device.” Well why doesn’t the plane just become a boat? ~ Steve Shaffer
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