2ND - 5TH APRIL

We had a decent lie in in Picton, followed by a lazy morning. We had decided that Picton looked nice enough that we’d stay a second night. I think it was also something to do with not wanting to be up and out of the site by the 10 am check out time! J Breakfast was slightly marred by me leaving our butter out of the fridge to soften up a little, and some kind soul stealing it - butter dish and all! Some people!! Still, not the end of the world and after breakfast we went for a stroll around the town, ending up walking on “Bob’s Bay track”, a picturesque path which went up one side of the harbour for a couple of miles. It really was a quaint little town, despite the large ferries coming and going every couple of hours or so. We had heard that most people just land here and move on straight away, but we reckoned that was doing the place an injustice, as it was nice to spend a chilled day there. We had decided to have a roast dinner, with it being Sunday and all, and the

campsite having an oven complete with baking trays. It’s amazing how many campsites have ovens, but no trays or anything to use in them!! Unfortunately someone had beaten us to the oven, and were cooking what seemed like half a pig in there!! (yuk!). We had to settle for the bottom shelf, but we got there in the end, and after a good feed were once again away with the fairies and looking forward to venturing further into the South Island.

We had a brief stop at the Department of Conservation office to check out the best places to visit, and armed with a few leaflets we set off on Queen Charlotte Drive, a winding road which runs alongside Queen Charlotte Sound. The Scenery in this part of New Zealand is fantastic, all bays and peninsulas, and lush green peninsulas rising straight out of the gorgeous coloured sea. There were countless DOC campsites in this area, although most of them were only