Top Of The South... My Week In Picton Town...

This is the Picton foreshore...
In the middle of the picture is where the Inter Island ferries dock.
Picton is a small town at the top of the South Island of New Zealand.
Named after Sir Thomas Picton, the Welsh military associate of the
Duke of Wellington,
who was killed in the Battle of Waterloo.
Combined with nearby Waikawa
 it has a population of aproximately 6-7000.

The east side of the foreshore...
A small marina and where the historical Scow 'Echo'
is at rest, set in concrete and  being restored as a museum/cafe...
Read about it and some fascinating NZ history here
A wonderful place for an evening drink and stunning sunsets.

A sunny Saturday afternoon...
 It was the annual  Santa parade so lots of people out and about.

It's a lovely reserve area... Childrens paddling pool...
Picnic area...

Steps up to the town centre...

And the humming main street...
Full of cafes and all sorts of shops and tourist attractions.

Christmas carols... The 'stage' on the flat deck on the back of a truck.

This is my friend Cathy... We went shopping in Blenheim...
And what better thing to do than sit and sample one of the
excellent Marlborough wines before heading home for dinner.
(We did have a sober driver - Cathy's daughter - with us!)


This is where I stayed... Cathy and David's lovely house and garden.
Under the house is a flat that I occupied... It's just across the little bridge...
Surrounded by lush bush.


It was like living in a tree house... Totally surrounded by a green oasis.


A glimpse of the lawn...


There is a little stream here... right outside my door.


And here is the lawn... Where croquet is set up...
At the bottom of the lawn is an old walnut tree.
David picks them in 12th December while they are still soft and green...
And pickles them... Delicious


There is a micro climate... The combination of native and exotic
trees are so dense...


A swing seat to relax in... And a pool for when the weather is hotter.
I planned to stay 2-3 days but stayed for a week.
Not hard to do.

Christmas Cake Anyone?

I've just made my Christmas cake...
Much the same recipe as last year with a few variations.
It's delicious.

 It's a bit like a 'Cathedral' cake.
The light shines through it.


 This is the recipe...
But I changed the fruit. I had a lot of mixed dried fruit...
Raisins, currants, sultanas and peel that I wanted to use up.
So I soaked it in a cup of brandy for eight weeks... Yes eight weeks...
The smell was divine.
I added dried pineapple pieces and dried
New Zealand apricots into the other
fruit and soaked that overnight.
Next day I added the cherries and nuts

Here's the final mix... Lots of fruit and nuts... More than the recipe says...
But that doesn't matter.
My cooking is always a little 'creative'.

Then the flour and spices... I put double the recipe.

 Then the eggs... I put six.

 
 The tins are ready...

And into the oven. 150 deg C for 2 hours.
The front cake is in a flexibe silicone container...
I didn't line it like the other two metal tins.
The silicone is supposed to be non-stick... And it was.

Out of the oven... Just perfect...
Moist... Sublime flavour... Very moreish...
Like a slice?

Now I Can Legally Drive My Bus...

Oh Dear... Oh Dear...
I recently discovered... I was politely told by some of the people
at the Bedford Rally last Labour Weekend...
That I needed a Class II... Or Heavy Traffic license to drive my housebus.
Oh No... What a dilemma.
I had been merrily driving it since I bought it in April...
On a car or Class I license!




 
So... I spent the weeks I was in Christchurch
swotting up the road code, and in particular the questions
about heavy vehicles.




 I hope you can enlarge these photos enough to read them...
The questions are very interesting, mostly relating to
heavy trucks... But I needed to know them.
I bought some 'tests' online and thoroughly practised
until I was sure I would pass.
I needed a medical certificate...
Then off I went to AA...
And duly got my 'Learners' license...
with a 100% pass... Hurray!


Next I needed to get a full license... Before I could drive again.
The options were:
keep my learners license for six months and only drive with a person
who has held a full HT license for two years... Or...
Do a two day course.
Well the choice was obvious!
So after several phone calls I found Steve...
He was willing to do a course with me... Immediately.
It only took us 1/2 a day...
The theory was like being back at kindergarten...
And of course I could already drive my 'heavy vehicle'.

So 'Learners' last Monday...
Full HT on Wednesday...
Didn't take long...
So now I have my HT license and am legally on the road again.

You might be interested in the cost of this exercise:
Road Code book      25.50
Medical Cert    80.00
Learners Licence - done at AA    93.90
Steve  600.00
Full License - at AA 49.60
Total 849.00

The license costs are set by the government...
Steve's price was the cheapest anywhere...
He pays $200 for the manuals and workbooks we used and
because it is all done as 'Unit Standards' he pays $7 a unit to register them on my student number.
It's a total rip off... the manuals should be online.
It's like the road code book... Every time there is a change...
They all need to be reprinted.
Somebody's making a huge profit.

Another thing I found out - if you can't afford a 2 day course
and choose to do a 26 week course through an approved provider
then those who are  unemployed become an employed student.
This manipulates the unemployed numbers... The government likes this!!!

Time To Say Goodbye ... And The Train to Picton...

The day had come...  had been in Christchurch for five weeks.
This is my last day with my Dad... till next time.
He was looking much better than when I arrived.
Nothing like a bit of company from a bossy daughter
to stimulate and spruce things up.
He has on his new trousers and one of his new jumpers.
We had great fun getting taxis to go shopping
and have lunch in Ballantynes and the Riccarton Mall.
The stakes at the side of the photo are where I planted his
tomato plants that he grew from seed.
He has always been a gardener and still likes to potter.
We also bought not one... But two new phones.
A new mobile, which at  94 he manages to make calls on... Mostly to me!
And a new landline phone.
Both are for the hearing impaired... The new mobile is marvellous...
We can now have long conversations and he can actually hear me.

So at 7am I got the Coastal Pacific train to Picton.
It's a 5 hour journey and the carriages are new so it's a real pleasure.
This rail line was opened 15 December 1945...
Read more of the history here...
It is often blocked and closed by slips...
But the day I was on it was lovely and sunny and no stops or breakdowns.

New Zealand scenery is spectacular and this journey is one of the best.
This is passing over the Waimakiriri River
which has its source way up in the mountains.
It is one of the word's few 'Braided' rivers.
These 'Braided' rivers are only found in Alaska, Canada,
 The Himalayas a few in America and Asia and in the
South Island of New Zealand.
 How they are formed is fascinating... Read here...

 
 This is an aerial view...

The train travelled over several of these unique rivers...

New Zealand is a farming country...
We have 40 million sheep - 10 to each person!
Sheep farming has been crucial in the development of the economy...
And for 130 years was the most important agricultural industry...
We passed through lots of paddocks of sheep...

Similarly... Cows...
In 2007 New Zealand had  4.2 million dairy cows and produced
15 billion tonnes of milk... We have many more today plus beef cattle.

 
More river beds and wild gorse...
Some clever people and worked out how to make Gorse flower wine!
A prickly and labour intensive task.
Here is the recipe...


 
We came to the coast... The Pacific Ocean.
Snow on the Southern Alps at Kaikoura in the distance.

 
This is a magnificant coastline... I came here for holidays after the war...
1945... 65 year ago...
Old Army huts, by then unused, were put along the coast
and made wonderful holiday shacks.
I love it and never get tired of the
view and changing moods.


In places the road is very close to the train tracks...
Not much road traffic is there!
Only 27% of New Zealand's population live in the south Island.


It's lush and green... Nearly Christmas and the snow
is still around. The Rainbow ski field is up there somewhere.


The gorse changes to wild lupin...
 They are actually a noxious weed but very beautiful.



Then further north the Lake Grassmere Salt Works
where 60,000 to 70,000 tonnes of salt are harvested each year.


As the process happens the water changes from blue...


To a muddy looking grey...


The area all around looks arid... And salty!


The water evaporates...



Turns pink...

 
 And is processed into huge piles of salt.


The last carriage on the train is an outdoor viewing area.


I went out there as we passed through the  many hectares of
Marlborough vineyards.


The track and vineyards stretching out behind...


Marlborough has a hot dry climate, cold in the winter
which is perfect for producing award winning Savignon grapes.


Windmills are used in the winter to disturb the frosty air...
So the next seasons grapes are not ruined.


The train rounds the bend through the dry Marlborough hills...


And more or less on time...
We arrive in Picton.