Our Journey Across Cook Strait

Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Picton, Marlborough, New Zealand
I never expected our ferry boat ride to the South Island to be so amazing. We loaded our hippie van and walked up the stairs to the top deck. The views of the coastal areas were all photo shots of unique coastal areas with Alaska-like qualities, but not as much snow capped glaciers and perhaps more boats. We cruised across the channel taking pictures of every portion of the coast, the water, the dolphins jumping next to our ferry...It was all beautiful.

As we got closer to the South Island, we had to weave in and out of the islands to get to the porto of Picton . It was breathtaking and I took lots of pictures. Lots of fishing boats, many sailboats, depite the cold and many interesting coastal landscapes. This is what I expected to experience with NZ!!!

The town of Picton was cool. Although in the off-season and all the restuarants and stores closing around 5PM, it was easy to imagine the swarms of visitors in this town during the warmer months. We got some of the best pizza ever at the bar bistro right off the docks. Tired, we decided to stay the night in a hotel and recoup from all of our days of staying in the back of our van. It was pretty cold and Kristin negotiated a $60 rate at the best hotel in town overlooking the harbor. The Yacht Club hotel had a circular bed facing the harbor with various boats and channel markers illuminated in the distance. We played Rummee 500 all night in which I suffered a rare loss.  I don't like losing and tried my best to accuse Kristin of cheating before deciding to call it a night.  Unsuccessful, I awoke the next morning and stacked the deck with an Ace or Face card every other card. I dealt the cards and agreed that winner takes all. I let her go first, knowing that I had given her the worst hand possible. As my turn came, I grunted and acted like I had a hard decision to make. I took lots of time and eventually laid down my 4 Aces, 3 Kings, and 3 Jacks claiming victory. It was a beautiful way to recoup my title even though it was obvious that I stacked the deck.

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