In Wellington and Picton on the South Island

It’s Saturday and we’ve now been here long enough to have some initial impressions of this beautiful country. Firstly, the people are really lovely. They’re very proud of their country and have been giving us all sorts of hints about what sights we must see. Even in the grocery stores, clerks are friendly and engaging. On the flight from Auckland, the man sitting next to me gave me great tips on the country and provided us with the name of a restaurant where we ate one night. The Maori have a rich cultural history. Wednesday we saw a Haka(picture above)at the museum in Auckland. Haka is the dance which the warriors do prior to going to battle. .

This is a decoration from one of the Maori war canoes. The canoe was made out of one tree and had intricate carvings all along it.

Thursday in Wellington at Te Anau (a gorgeous museum)we learned more about the Maori and Friday is Waitangi Day, celebrating the signing of the treaty between the English and the Maori. You can imagine that the Maori did not fare too well by that treaty. . This is from the top of the cable car in Wellington, looking down at the city and the harbor. We flew to Wellington and after spending a day here took the ferry across to the South Island, to Picton.

There is excellent coffee everywhere. . At least as good as in ItalyBob is in heaven. It really is gorgeous here. These are pictures from the ferry crossing going from Wellington on the North Island to Picton on the South Island

Marlborough Sound from the ferry. The view from our motel in Picton.

This is the next day as we're heading out of the harbor on a boat with bicycles to ride the Queen Charlotte track.

This is from the highest point on the track. A long hard trail up to here with a lot of places where it was too steep to ride and you had to push your bike. We had some adventures on this trail. But, this picture only begins to convey how beautiful it is. The track is a hiking/biking track which follows the ridge line. some people do the entire track as a 4 - 5 day walk. There are places to stay along the way, often only reached by hiking or by boat.