This morning we awoke to glorious sunshine in the batch. The glow-worms had meant quite a late night, and we were not used to sleeping in a room with real curtains, so when I enquires as to the time and was told it was "08:39" I was pleased by my deep and very long sleep.
The others weren't yet awake so we headed out into the garden for some croquet. Six games later and I was officially the champion of the two of us, having easily won five of them. Bored of croquet after an hour or so playing, I strolled up behind the batch to try to find a track up the hill. This quickly proved not to be a flip-flop task so I ambled back and got myself some breakfast. Thinking to myself that the others do indeed rise late (we had been warned), I grabbed my phone to take some photos outside as my camera was in charge. Imagine my surprise therefore, when I went to the U lock screen and the time read "07:50". Given I'd supposedly gotten up at 08:30 and done a couple of hours activity I realised that something fishy was going on (aside from ester at evening's activities) and once again enquires about the one. "08:30" I was told!
It appears that *somebody's* watch had stopped working at 08:30 last night - and rather than the leisurely get-up I'd hoped for, I instead had done some crack-of-dawn croquet! Anyway, not much I could now do about this, and as the others were still largely asleep we took the kayaks out into the bay for an hour-long paddle which was fresh and fun. The water was once again a stunning blue, and the groups of jellyfish made for a scenic paddle (I made sure I didn't do any accidental "scoop" strokes..).
Back at the batch and with the others awake, I had a yummy breakfast of fresh bread and lemon curd before being hooked up the hill to admire the view from the top. I had been correct in thinking that this was a substantial shoe walk as some areas were slippery, but the view from the main track at the top was totally worh the climb and descent, and I was pleased to be rewarded with banana cake and cheese scones, also fresh out of the oven.
As soon as these had been devoured (who said New Zealanders enjoy a relaxed pace of life?), I was persuaded to try "jetty jumping". This is exactly as it sounds and involved running down the jetty and jumping off - superb fun (and we had pre-checked the water for jellyfish).
A few goes of jumping later and it was time for lunch - Ed had kindly caught some mussels the previous day, which we enjoyed in a soup. Our time in the batch then drew to a close with the arrival of the water taxi, and we were soon speeding and bumping our way back to Picton.
After all that bobbing about on the water I was keen for a quick loo trip before rejoining Wendy. The nearest public loos were handily on the quay, and an experience like no other. Upon locking the door with snazzy illuminated buttons, I was treated to some instructions "Welcolme to Pictin public toilets. The door is now locked. You have 10 minutes after which the door will be unlocked". Fairly sure that this was plenty of time for me, I sat down and was treated to some calming music as I did so. How nice. Even the loo roll had an automatic spin!
Anyway, not wanting to linger on the subject of loos any longer, I'll say that we went on to continue our journey (or in my case, nap) all the way to Marahau, a delightful little hamlet on the Southern border of Abel Tasman National Park.
No comments:
Post a Comment