Nelson, Picton, and a nice end to the day

It is still about 200 km to Picton, my destination and where I stepped ashore on South Island nearly 3 weeks ago. It is a beautiful day with blue sky and sunshine again so, after a wander around the beautiful town I head out of town and travel through some more passes and valleys, and arrive in Havelock which is a small place at the head of one of the many sounds in the region. 

 Downtown Nelson complete with log truck on the way to the port

There are two routes to Picton from there; both are about the same distance. I, of course chose the “road less traveled” which was windy, and hilly, but spectacular with tremendous views of the Queen Charlotte Sound. I recently discovered the “wide” setting and I now look with more satisfaction at the photos I am taking. They still do not really do justice to the azure blue of the sea and the magnificence of the views, but it is better.

The Queen Charlotte Sound and the Wood export facility in Picton

When I arrived at my digs the lady in charge said that the local yacht club have races on Tuesday evenings and if anyone at the place is interested in sailing and crewing they would be welcome. It was a beautiful day and a great opportunity, so off I went. There were probably 7 of us who showed up and several of the others had done this before. I was teamed up with a German guy Michel and introduced to our skipper, Clive who was one of the standard versions of a yachtsman. Not the peaked cap and blue blazer type, but the somewhat crusty and bearded sailor, maybe a little closer to Popeye. 

He was from the UK and spent the winters in NZ and the summers in the UK. Smart guy. He had retired from Pirelli Cables who supply mains electrical cables and installations around the world. He has traveled extensively and was basically the guy who tested the installations and verified that all of it works to spec. He had spent a lot of time in Bagdhad during the Iran/Iraq war and had some interesting stories. Turns out he lives in Leicester (where I was born) and lived less than 5km from where my Mom lived and less than 10km from the Desford facility.

We sailed in the race, and there were two divisions of boat racing (not sure how it works). We were a division 2 boat and Clive showed his patience (mostly) with his inexperienced crew, and we felt like we had a pretty good showing. Clive mentioned that our placement would be based on tactics rather than from having a well-oiled expert crew. We were the third or forth boat across the finish, and it turned out that we had won the division race. This was announced at the awards ceremony after several beers. Clive won a bottle of rum and we at least sampled it before going our separate ways. 

One interesting and apparently unususal thing was that the ferry that was going out to Wellington took a different and longer route to stay out of the way of the race. Clive mentioned that there were race penalties for slowing or getting in the ferry’s way (he is WAY bigger) but this ferry Captain went above and beyond to make sure that we were all having fun and were not interrupted. That to me is the quintessential Kiwi way and what I enjoyed most about my stay. People are considerate, friendly and helpful, not just to tourists but to each other as well. Huge kudos to them as a nation and their lifestyle choices. We could learn a thing or two.

What an unexpected afternoon of fun, and what generosity on the Club’s behalf to welcome visitors to meet people and join the fun. A great finish to a great day.