Up and going in the morning as we were flying to South Island, first for a cruise of Queen Charlotte Sound from Picton and then, back on the plane for a 2 hour flight further south to Te Anau. Again, private charter... so nice! We were in a much smaller plane since the airfields as we go further south are smaller and smaller!
But, back to the day, got to the airport in Blenheim, which is shared with the Air Forcem and, wouldn't you know it, there was an air show scheduled for later in the day. Saw a couple little planes, and after I photographed them, they told us, no pics as this is a military base... Oh well, I didn't know!
Got on the Coach and drove to the sleepy town of Picton and to Marlboro Tour Company and the Sea Oddysea (yes, that's the spelling!). We would be cruising Queen Charlotte Sound for a couple hours. And what a wonderful respite it was! The boat was comfy, the sound was smooth, the skies were blue... what a change from Wellington! We had fresh Green Lip Muscles, Salmon line caught the day before and even a huge ham for folks who didn't like fish. Wine from the area (which produces mostly whites and exports a whole bunch of which I can't remember any of the numbers, but it was way more that I anticipated...The views of all the vineyards from the plane by the way were unreal... so, so, so many fields... unlike anything I've ever seen.) I sorta felt like this area is similar to the San Juan Islands We were blessed with such a nice day for this part of our journey!
Time was ticking on and it was time to head to our next spot, Te Anau. Full tummies and yet when we were on board and flying they offered more food. Passed on that... Hit a couple of rough spots in the air, but nothing too worrisome! So much agriculture as we were flying south. Truly, I have not seen so many fields... green and growing... even when in the US. I guess ours are spread out over a larger area than these are here. They've had more than the normal amount of rain and you could see where the rivers were high, filled with more silt and even see where the silt empties into the ocean.
Easter Sunday is this morning... Missing our family at home and Minnesota. Weird to not be around them. This Sunday is the Sunday that completed the miracle of his Birth at Christmas, He died and rose again... all for us! Happy Easter! He is Risen!
From Coach to Plane, 20 seconds!!!
Prop Plane...
Each flight starts with champagne... !
Not even sure how these Oxygen things would work... but, since were in a prop, it never gets up high like a jet!
We're off and going!
This is not the silt part, but shows the 'shelfs' in the depth of the water!
Vineyards galore!
Love the Maritime Clock on the plane!
Besides these little guys, there were helicopters and a couple c-130's
Baaaa Baaaa
Picton... the little beach
Our boat
So peaceful... and the salt air smelled so good!
Captain of the ship flew our colors just to honor our visit there...! Someone likes us!!!
Greenlip Muscles... They grow hanging and never touch the sandy bottom. Pretty darn good!
Rough Life you can see!
Captain Ryan also grilled the salmon... man of many trades!
See the trees dead and the ones dying... that was done with the Copper Stack trick we hear about. These trees are invasive and the government is trying to kill them off.
Headed to TeAnau
The silt... Jerry and I have seen the Puyallup River do this in the Puget Sound.
Wow & Yum! :D :D
ReplyDeletejudy