Chris and John drove me to the Picton Airport yesterday morning only to discover that the flight conditions were not favourable for flying out of Picton and we were leaving from Blenheim instead. I said goodbye and waited for the shuttle, which transported me and two other passengers to Blenheim. After some delay we boarded the Sounds Air Cessna 208 Caravan and headed off for Wellington. In spite of the low cloud the flight was reasonably smooth. It was amazing to see the whole of Marlborough Plain almost entirely covered in vineyards, punctuated with odd buildings, which were no doubt the owners’. On the drive in we had passed some familiar names like “Stoneleigh”
After a slightly hard landing iat Wellington Airport the little plane taxied into its dock. Chris had given me the contact details of an old friend and after pushing my luggage up the arrivals ramp I saw him waiting for me. We had a great two hour catch up of the past 48 years after which it was time for me to return to the airport to catch my plane to Dunedin. I waved goodbye to Nigel with the promise to stay in touch.
The flight to Dunedin was very smooth and I nodded off for some time while we were up in the clouds. As we started to descend the area became much clearer and we passed right over Dunedin and continued further south, making a right hand turn to go further inland for Dunedin Airport. My cousin Lynn and her brother Wayne were there to greet me, much to my delight. I hadn\t seen him for over 40 years.
After a cup of tea Lynn’s husband Simon took us for a drive up Mt Cargill where we got some brilliant views of the city and area.
From there we headed for Baldwin Road, which is the steepest Road in the World. My late husband, Brian felt challenged to drive it in January 2006, but that is now discouraged so we decided to walk it instead. There are two extremely steep parts and although I’ve been doing lots of walking not a lot of it has been over sustained steep hills. Consequently I did have one small stop.
When you reach the top there is a water fountain and information about Baldwin Street.
Following our exertions; both Simon and Wayne also walked up it, we returned to Simon’s house where we enjoyed a lovely social, well earned meal.
send some sun to the home country please!
It’s been following me around since I got here, so hopefully it might come back to the UK with me.