Well…the car retrieval in Picton did not go as smoothly as we would have liked. It seems that the Wellington rental car folks never bothered shipping the car. We arrived at the wharf in Picton around 4:30 pm after having walked about 12 miles of hard climbing. We were pretty stoked about getting into port, getting a cup of coffee and our car, then heading out for Nelson (where our next accommodations were). Instead, we arrived, there was no car or anyone who knew anything about it waiting for us, and had to call around until we finally got in touch with someone who could help us. The folks at the adventure company were very helpful and lent us their phone. After a bit of time an old man drives up in the tiniest car I’ve ever seen and announces to us that he was there to help us locate our missing vehicle. We stuffed ourselves and our one bag, into the car and as we looked back we saw the folks in the adventure company splitting a gut laughing. The man, Alec, was as sweet as can be and he toted us all over Picton and the wharf trying to find it. Eventually, his phone rang and it was one of the folks up the chain announcing that our car was still in Wellington but would be put on the ferry immediately and would arrive just after midnight. We were so tired that we opted to stay over in Picton and ended up renting the most fab room with GREAT views of the wharf for next to nothing (NZ $ nothing that is). The next morning our little guy showed back up, in his little bitty car, and we drove to the ferry and picked up our car.
We drove to Abel Tasman, very scenic, windy roads. Arrived, checked into our BB which sits atop the hill looking straight down into the bay. The next day we went on our kayak trip. It was lots of fun. Saw one blue penguin, one dolphin (don’t know what kind) and a few seals. I was pleased with the wildlife, and was able check off those animals from my list. Arrived back to the BB, tired, showered, then left for a bite back in the town about 10 K away. So far, both meals we’ve had in this little town, have been really good - Thai yesterday, pizza tonight.
