Tuesday 26 February

Picton to Wellington Ferry
We decided to stay another night at Kenepuru Head. It was a choice between having another lovely evening in an idyllic camping spot or moving on to something new. The journey to Picton in the morning wasn't an issue as the ferry was at 14.00 and we could easily make it from almost anywhere in the Marlborough Sounds.
We had a lovely evening and were thrilled to see a pair of Spoonbills arrive in the encroaching water at the head of the fiord as the tide came in. We watched the sweeping action they made with their 'spoonbills', catching supper on the fresh supply of seafood arriving on the tide.
Yesterday we took the car to a road connection point with the Queen Charlotte Track and did a circular walk in part of it. We were at Punga Cove which is mostly given over to a very upmarket (and expensive) holiday resort, reminiscent of the safari lodges in Tanzania. There were cabins, high on stilts, looking out over the bay and surrounded by forest. On the walk around Punga Cove we were yet again reminded of both Tanzania and Guatemala. The track wound through tall tree ferns, so like palms. Creepers made their way up the tall trunks of trees, forcing their way upward through the canopy to find some daylight. This is temperate rainforest, something I have never seen before. To me the word 'rainforest' means tropical, I didn't appreciate that a temperate rainforest would be just as thick and dense, with so many creeks and pools of water. The ground beneath our feet was wet in places, as if it had rained the night before, which we knew it hadn't.
Last night the Spoonbills were joined by some Cranes, dipping with their long beaks as the Spoonbills swept with theirs. There were also so many other birds we couldn't identify, all taking advantage as the incoming tide produced a fresh supply of food. It came in quite slowly at first, with ample time for the waders to get their meal, before a sudden rush filled the bay. This was a signal for the birds who fed on the wing to congregate, skimming the surface of the water and occasionally diving in.
Fiordland is heralded as the place which everyone must visit on the South Island. It is unique, but I have found the Marlborough Sounds much more appealing. I suppose the weather makes a difference, and evidently we have been lucky in this country with such an unpredictable climate, it has been warm and sunny. The evenings and early mornings are very cold. Last night we had to retreat into the car about 22.30, it was too cold sitting outside, and we both woke up, cold, during the night. It was only 7C at 07.30 this morning.

So, a captive on the ferry, I have time to put in a few thoughts about recent experiences. I think something I will always remember is the conversations with inhabitants of Christchurch, not in the city itself, but people we have met on campsites. The couple living in a trailer-park two years on, the couple the incessant number of continuing earthquakes had forced to look for somewhere else to live. The woman who worked in a school telling how all communications were lost. Parents who didn't arrive to collect their frightened children, not knowing whether those parents were dead, injured, or just couldn't get there. Teachers who slept overnight in the school, comforting and supporting the children and not knowing what to tell them. The woman whose first action when she goes into any building is to check where the exits are and look around for a suitable place to shelter in case there is another after-shock. People whose houses are in a restricted zone, they can't occupy them, they are still living in temporary accommodation not knowing, two years later, whether they will ever be able to return to their family home or will have to abandon it, take whatever the insurance company will pay them and start again elsewhere.
I don't think I could live in New Zealand, my Northern Hemisphere skin couldn't cope with the lack of ozone layer. In this climate it seems to be really warm only of you are in the sun, and when I am in the sun my skin burns. My northern hemisphere sun cream doesn't seem to work, I have two tubes of Kiwi stuff and the only one that seems to work on my face is the thick white stuff the Australian cricketers use, so I'm looking a bit like a guest at a Halloween Party.