We chose a different vineyard for lunch, having overheard it being recommended to someone else. We went to Wairau River's restaurant. We sat outside in hot sun and enjoyed a good meal accompanied by a glass of their wine and lots of water, plus coffee. I took over the driving then to complete a circular route back to Picton. We drove north to Havelock on
a road we had not travelled before and then, as we had plenty of time, we drove west for a while to Pelorus Bridge where we took a short walk in the reserve. For the return journey we drove along Queen Charlotte Drive - a tortuously twisty road with incredible glimpses down into the Sounds. We had done this in 2008 but then Richard drove and we travelled east to west in rather overcast conditions. Today I drove west to east in lovely sun, though visibility was still not brilliant. We turned off and went to Anakiwa which is a beautiful bay at the head of one of the inlets to the Queen Charlotte Sound. The New Zealand Outward Bound School is located there and it is the start point for the Queen Charlotte Trail.
16 March
After a lazy start to the day - it was drizzling - we walked in bright sunshine via Picton marina onto the Victoria Domain and walked on the headland and then on the lower track above the shore for about 1.5 hours.
I
n the afternoon we joined the mail boat on its journey around Queen Charlotte Sound delivering and collecting post/parcels from the households and settlements on the Sound, most of which have no access other than by boat. Naturally most are used as holiday homes but we were very amused to find that the boat was met on almost all occasions by a person/persons accompanied by a dog/dogs! 
n the afternoon we joined the mail boat on its journey around Queen Charlotte Sound delivering and collecting post/parcels from the households and settlements on the Sound, most of which have no access other than by boat. Naturally most are used as holiday homes but we were very amused to find that the boat was met on almost all occasions by a person/persons accompanied by a dog/dogs! 
We were very lucky on the r
eturn leg to come upon killer whales (Orcas, which are actually large dolphins) which have come into the Sound to eat Sting Ray. There was a very large male and about 5 others (females or adolescents). We also saw a King Shag during this trip - it is an endangered species; there are thought to be only about 600 of them.
eturn leg to come upon killer whales (Orcas, which are actually large dolphins) which have come into the Sound to eat Sting Ray. There was a very large male and about 5 others (females or adolescents). We also saw a King Shag during this trip - it is an endangered species; there are thought to be only about 600 of them.
Looking much redder/browner in our faces from the sea breezes, we had an good early evening meal overlooking the harbour and retired to our comfortable room to enjoy a bottle of wine and a DVD.
