Escaping the Ratrace

A week full of tidying up loose ends, last minute Saturday work and a visit to the grandbaby…

Giving him his first lessons in how to keep the boat afloat!

Home to pack, cook dinner and get up early Sunday for the next big thing!

This meant leaving home at 7am, collecting George and heading to the prepaid airport park for a leisurely wait until being called for our flight. Ok so if you’re not two hours early you are late! With no traffic on a Sunday morning it was a very quick run through, meaning quality time over a coffee and breakfast, while the six flights before us filled and left. It was kind of exciting to be getting on a plane again!

Not the big boys but the 68 seater cigarillo direct to regional Nelson! George felt he was in a hobbit plane as there was definitely not standing room for his 6’7”. Out came the anti bacterial wipes and the air hostess informed us (her words) good idea as we don’t sanitise these regional planes in between turnarounds! Front row seats meant plenty of leg room and no one in front….until 10 minutes from destination….the pilot advised that landing conditions were marginal in Nelson and don’t be surprised if we had a sudden vertical ascent just before landing and diverted to Blenheim – a two hour bus ride back to Nelson to collect our campervan before heading back through Blenheim to Picton! Destination day one!

However the weather gods were in our favour and we touched down, grabbed the bags and our weeks travel mode with all the instructions!

George was keen to get behind the wheel (in torrential rain) and we headed east, skirting the city and along a watery coastline

Up and over some mountain range (getting hungrier by the minute) and an hour later dropping into the Rai valley…

Stopping at the first (very busy) cafe we found… A very expensive chicken burger and chips to share, only realising, after sating our hunger, that we had probably just eaten someone else’s lunch noting we had double chicken patties and two lots of chips. Needless to say we were very full and ready to set off once again in the rain. Then it was out on the plains and easier driving – to open our 7 meter camper up to a roaring 90km (downhill that is)…

Acres of sleeping vineyards outside Blenheim then north again to Picton. Having been instructed in the toilet emptying procedures, and hesitant to perform these, every public toilet on our journey is a temple! Last stop and George decided it was my turn to drive, a mere 10kms from Picton! However, I still think I drew the short straw, as supermarket stop loomed and four blocks of Picton shops before I could find appropriate roadside parking! Shopping done and out to our friend Nancy’s house for a much needed cuppa…only to mis navigate the driveway and rearrange her berm…while going nowhere fast (skidding) A reverse back onto the road and a second go at getting the sealed bit meant destination day one was complete! A Dinner date with Graeme and Brenda upon their arrival off the interslander ferry meant one more journey before bunking down! Kindly Nancy offered her nice small hatchback to zoom back into the restaurant. Beds flattened and made up with King George in the comfy king size (encompassing entire back half of van) and my single slab behind the driving seat. Just saying, as I lie here, head touching one side and feet on the other, I now not only know the length of the van but am assured that it is 5’7” wide!(a perfect fit for a human of my stature)

The campervan being a new experience for both George and myself, there have been a few teething problems, none insurmountable, but definitely a challenge. As we hunker down for the night.