2X Woods Vacation-Last of the Good Times, Day 11

Today we had to drive about an hour back to Picton, where the ferries port. In Picton, we had had a picnic lunch in a park as we left, so we had another picnic upon our return. The kids had a lot more fun this time, as they were familiar with the park.

The trip home was a bit more exciting on the ferry. The first hour of travel is inside the Marlborough Sound, which is protected from the ocean winds and swells. But the open sea crossing through the Cook Strait can be quite exciting. We had medium swells, maybe 6-8 feet. That meant that JoEllen went to the top deck (open air) and kept a refreshing breeze on her face. After about 45 minutes, Cody followed. Lois and I found some seating mid ship inside, and it wasn't too bad. The boys went into the onboard movie, and never noticed anything wrong.

Picton

If you look carefully across the water, you can see the swells.

Entering Wellington Harbor

Sorry, no disembarking photos.  We went home, and got takeout Fish and Chips from our favorite shop.

2X Woods Vacation-Summer!!!!, Day 10, Nelson and Kaiteriteri Beach

Today was our last full day of vacationing on the South Island. Tomorrow we return to Picton to take the ferry back to Wellington. What a fun time we have had.

We left Nelson fairly early and head west along the coast, looking for places to explore and to find a beach to just relax. About an hour later, we found it: Paiteriteri Beach. Although there were a lot of people there, it wasn't southern California crowded.

We parked, grabbed gear, and headed out to stake out a good beach plot.

We were at the entrance to a small cove, and were there near the end of high tide. That made quite a current into and out of the cove.

It was the warmest, sunniest day we have seen. The water was pretty cool, and the sand didn't get burning hot.  

Vote for the best jumper!

Since it is summer here, the fruit stands were open. We stopped at one and got everyone a real fruit shake or cone! That was a hit. We also got 2 kg of fresh raspberries to eat, and have with breakfast.  That night the kids voted to stay in the motel with pizza, and the adults went to a Spanish (Spain) restaurant.  Great food.  (Next year I might take photos of the dinners...)

2X Woods Vacation-Queens Gardens, Day 9, Nelson

Well, we made it up the west coast, now we spend 2 days in Nelson, and the Abel Tasman Park area. It looks like we will finally find summer here. And a couple of days of blue skies.

Most cities have huge parks and gardens. Many are called Queens Gardens. We toured through the one in Nelson.  Tonight we had Thai food.

The name of the tree above. From Australia

The historic Christ Church in downtown Nelson

Found my new business