What a fantastic weekend - thank you to everyone that made it super special. We tried to get to bed early on Friday night - but given we still had to pack for the weekend, that was easier said than done. But eventually we did get to bed. I woke at 1.10am and jumped in the shower. Probably a good thing to do as it did at least wake me up a bit. Mike and Toby got up a little later and threw on the clothes. Then we finished packing the car. We were in the InterIslander carpark collecting Sally and Andrew by 2.30am before joining the car queue.
We were entertained by securing the bikes better (we had 5 of them - two on the roof and three on the back) and the wee truck units that moved the truck containers onto the ferry. We got on nice and early and found some reclining seats. Toby grabbed the blanket and went to sleep immediately. Sally and Andrew did the same. Mike worked for a bit and I fell asleep eventually.
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| Sleeping on the ferry at 3am |
When I woke up, it was just me and Toby there. Turns out Andrew had found the brekkie and tried that. Sally had found the coffee, and wanted more (but not the coffee available here) and Mike was off exploring.
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| Morning coffee at Chez Alicouscous |
Met Iona off the ferry at the self service petrol station and Andrew switched to her car. We went back to Blenheim and had coffee at Vicky and Alistair's place. The coffee was superb. And we got heated croissants too.
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| Perfection |
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| And with croissant, no less! |
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| Mike enjoying the brekkie on the porch |
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| Car loaded with 5 people and 5 bikes |
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| Porch catch up |
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| That is just perfect |
Sally had a crisis at work, so she ended up getting sucked into that for a bit. Andrew left with Iona, as Iona had a lunch date with her friends Sue and Jan in Motueka with the idea he would get dropped off at the Nelson accommodation. We left about 30 - 40 mins afterwards and enjoyed a good drive over the hills.
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| Vineyards |
Sally and Andrew stayed at the Beachside Villa motel on Golf Road - they had the benefit of air conditioning. We dropped Sally off with gear and headed back to our accommodation. Unfortunately at 12pm we were still too early to get a key. We dropped our bikes off and met Sally and Andrew at Sprig and Fern for a lovely lunch. Mike and Toby went to Maccas instead. Hahah.
Got into our room by 1.30pm or so and had a bit of a lazy snooze until 5pm. Our room was a basic cabin for $80 a night. A bunk bed and a single bed. Mike and I shared the bottom single bunk bed. Toby grabbed the single bed. The room was tiny - with a fridge. Nothing else. Not even a fan.
Locked the bikes up outside our room and then collected Andrew and Sally from their place before meeting JR and Anita at Hopgoods in Trafalgar St, just below the cathedral. This was possibly the best meal I have had in ages. We had a set menu, but the staff swapped out my meal for vegetarian options. And they were not an afterthought at all. Every course was scrumptious. And I had two Shirley Temple Sour Cherry drinks. Mmmmm. Definitely going back there.
The weather was so hot - such a beautiful evening for sitting out and dining alfresco. Along with a lot of other people at that end of the street in the middle of town. We got home and retired to bed. It was stifling in our room though. At one point I tried to convince the boys to sleep with the door wide open. I didn't get my way. There was barely any breeze anyway so I doubt it would have made an iota of difference.
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| Andrew starting from Flora car park |
I was up early Sunday morning - 5.45am - and jumped in the shower. Nice showers here. Went to pick up Andrew at 6.30am and after getting petrol from the Z in Richmond and a pie for brekkie (vegetable korma for me - it was ok) we set off for Flora car park below Mt Arthur. The chap in the petrol station kept trying to declare Andrew's bacon and egg pie as a butter chicken one. We knew why once we started eating in the car. It was a butter chicken one. We got there just on 8am and Andrew was quickly onto his bike and off.
As I was saying goodbye to Andrew, I was leaping around like a mad thing due to the inquisitive bumble bees that were attracted to my blue shoes. They also liked Andrew's blue backpack, so my goodbye hug for him was very lukewarm - no way was I getting much closer to him than that. Andrew suggested I go for a walk, and after a wee toilet stop (also bombarded by bumble bees and wasps in there) I decided to head up the Mt Arthur Hut for a while.
Best idea ever!
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| My walk up on the Mt Arthur hut track |
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| Selfie #1 |
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| Selfie #2 |
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| Selfie #3 |
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| Motueka iced coffee with Diesel |
We popped back into Sue and Jan's house before I got the pick up call from Andrew at 11.30am. He'd got a puncture and was walking the last km out. So I drove up Takaka hill and met him about 40 mins later as he was just starting the climb up from the other side.
Went to Neudorf and met the others just getting there from cycling from Mapua. Perfect timing. Toby joed out on the grass and Anita prepared a fantastic picnic. We met a couple also riding - Warwick and Karen. They live on the Gold Coast and Warwick divides his time between there and Nelson. Sounds perfect to me.
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| Toby tuckered out at Neudorf after his bike ride |
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| Neudorf - stunning |
Andrew and I got away before the others to meet Iona in Nelson and ensure she didn't shoot through to Blenheim. We got fish n chips from Haven chippie and ate at Tahunanui beach.
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| Appleby's coffee ice cream - yum! |
The ice cream cart there was the best! I could not keep up with the melting ice cream though. I ended up very sticky and Karen (my sister) will know what I kept thinking about. Highpoint West shopping centre - the great ice cream incident of (about) 1988.
Back to the accommodation and Mike and Toby convinced me to go see Jumanji at the cinema. They used emotional blackmail. "We hardly saw you today". "Don't you want to be with us?".
But - it transpired that I loved the movie. Something tickled my funnybone and I laughed till tears tracked down my face. The credits had a Michael Gilbert as some VFX person. So - glad I went in the end!
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| Best brekkie in ages - at DeVille in New St, Nelson |
We woke up after another hot night - but not quite as warm as the previous night. Packed up and checked out and collected Sally and Andrew from their place and loaded their gear. We met JR in town at DeVille in New St. Best brekkie ever! I loved that place.
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| Iced espresso - very good |
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| Me with the iced coffee and the iced espresso - for research purposes |
Left there in drizzly rain, checked out some suburbs on the way to Blenheim. Ate lunch at Saint Clair. Very nice. Off to Picton and wandered around for a few hours.
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| Picton pedestrian bridge |
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| Large stingray in the harbour |
Boarded the ferry at 6pm and away back to Wellington for a clam crossing. Dropped Sally and Andrew home at 10.30pm and back to our place not long after 11pm.
Wee Smudge was happy to see us - Ange must have looked after her well. Didn't unpack much before falling into bed.
Woot! Awesome weekend. Time for the short week at work to kick in.
Have a great week.
Love,
Angela
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