I’m very fortunate to have family and friends in numerous lovely places in New Zealand. My friend Chris and her husband John live in Picton right at the top of the South Island. This is where the inter island ferry lands, but I decided that I would prefer the adventure of flying in a pretty small plane, just to recall some old memories.
The weather was pretty cloudy at Wellington airport as we set off at 8.05am and bumped our way up through the clouds until the sun broke through. Once we were over Cook Straight it became a lot smoother and the views were lovely as we approached the South Island. I could see the inter island ferry turning into Tory Channel.
We approached Picton from the South and flew in over the plains that lead to Blenheim , the most populous town in Marlborough. The weather had improved enormously by now and turned into the most glorious day.
As we descended, the hills and roads became gradually clearer and then we descended quite rapidly as we made our approach into Picton airport at Koromiko. The landing was pretty smooth and as we pulled up by the tiny house that serves as the loading bay and checking tickets for Sounds Air I started searching for my friends among the small gathering of people there. They were nowhere to be seen.
As it was a glorious day I was quite happy to wait and while away my time watching the plane take off again and try to photograph some tiny birds in a nearby beautiful tree; without success of course, but the tree is still pretty.
After some considerable time I began to wonder if my friends were waiting at the shuttle terminal in Picton so I tried to ring Chris on mer mobile phone, but there was no reply. After three fruitless calls I gave up. Shortly after Chris rang me saying,”Where are you, we’ve been looking everywhere for you?” I’m at Picton Airport” I replied. “Oh” said Chris”We thought you were at Blenheim; everyone goes to Blenheim.” “Well not me, I was always coming to Picton”. It turned out there was an Air New Zealand Flight arriving at Blenheim, exactly they same time as my arrival in Picton. They eventually picked me up and drove me to their home in Waikawa, just a little out of Picton. They have a beautiful view of the Bay at Waikawa from their balcony. Very soon I was enjoying the sunshine, view and a cooked breakfast.
Hi Raewyn, you certainly are having a great time. I am so looking forward to you arriving in Auckland on Friday night. The plane gets in at 9-15 pm? I will be waiting there for you.
Thank you so much. I’m so looking forward to seeing you too. I’ve been trying to keep fit and if possible get fitter. Dunedin is so hilly its helping with the fitness. It’s a 1K walk uphill all the way to my cousin’s house.