The Volendam was the first cruise ship of the season to dock there—and she’s 60 feet longer than the dock so it makes us wonder just how big the other ships will be. Ladies met us at the gangway with homemade corsages of wildflowers for each of us. ‘Town” was just a short ride away in the free shuttle. (Still not sure if it was provided by the port or by Holland America.)
We wandered around town and did some souvenir shopping. Grandma went into the local quilt store (I didn’t see it until too late) but didn’t buy anything because it was all too expensive. Then Grandma and Dada and Uncle Mike hired a taxi and went to Omaka to see Peter Jackson’s (the “Lord of the Rings” guru) collection of rare airplanes while Dad and Aunt Brigitte and I went to Captain Cook’s Ship Cove. I finally got to walk where Captain Cook walked! It was sooooooooooooo beautiful. I can totally understand why Captain Cook made five stops here in this very cove.
Kiwis put up a monument to Cook in the early 1900s that is white and is a beacon to ships passing by who need a safe harbour (Kiwi spelling again). It can be seen quite some distance out to sea, can’t it? (Kiwis seem to end every statement as a rhetorical question. It’s a very funny speech pattern, and I love it.)
We also saw many sea birds, dolphins (bottlenose and dusky), and seals. At Ship Cove (where I walked where Captain Cook walked, did I mention that?), we saw some ‘cheeky wekas,’ another kind of New Zealand’s flightless birds. (There were no land mammals here before the Maori came, bringing with them dogs and rats, so many of New Zealand’s birds had evolved into flightlessness.)
The weather was quite nasty on our little cruise to Ship Cove, wasn’t it? Misty and COLD. Still, it was incredible to actually see it and WALK WHERE CAPTAIN COOK WALKED!
Jeff here. Now you get to suffer through my photo commentary. I’m not as witty as Robin, but I’ll do my best to blunder my way through.
This is a photo of the channel on the way into Picton. It was very beautiful. This photo captures the light on the way and is stark in its simplicity. A sight like this was a good way to start our day.
A rainbow off the deck of the ship. Don’t rainbows signify good fortune? (Or is that imminent flooding? I don’t remember.) In our case it must have been good fortune. We ended up spending a very lovely day in Picton.
A look at Cook Cove from the sea. Can you see the white marker? It was erected in the early 1900s to commemorate the location of Cook’s FIVE visits to this cove. Yes, you read that correctly. Five visits. One on his initial discovery and then he returned four times more. You can tell why. It is very lovely with two entrances from the sea, a shallow beach (he beached the ship here to make repairs) and a lovely stream running right down to the water. Fresh water, fish galore (300 pounds in one cast of the nets), beautiful scenery, and more. More on Cook’s cove later.
A first look at Picton. A lovely little town nestled in the mountains with a harbor, ferry (car and train) landings, railroad connections, and access to the sound. Very nice place.
A look back at the harbor from when we came. Did I mention how lovely it was?
Bottlenose dolphin come to play. This dolphin is named Woody and is known to hang around to show off for the tourists (her calf is named ‘Chip’). We saw her on our shore excursion.
A very cheeky Weka. I’ve dubbed it the funky chicken. This was on Cook’s cove where Robin was very excited to walk where Captain Cook walked (did she mention that?). Very interesting and humbling. And we got here a whole lot easier than he did.
Cook’s cove again. Notice the shallow sloping beach? Ideal for Cook to beach the ship, let the tide go out, and make repairs. Can you imagine a wooden ship that needs re-caulking and repairs constantly? Very brave men who traveled that way.
Cook’s cove looking out to sea. Jeff framed this shot with the interesting log in the foreground. The log probably wasn’t there in Cook’s day, but otherwise this is as he would have seen it. New Zealand has kept this area relatively free of changes (the addition of a dock, picnic tables, and restrooms are appreciated) so you can see it mostly as Cook saw it.
The Cook monument. Robin standing next to it for scale. You can see it miles out to sea, which was the intent. On our way out of the harbor we could see it for miles and miles.
On the way back in we saw some dusky dolphins. Very cute. They like to play and to surf the pressure wave on the front of the boat.
A bird hanging around the dock. Wildlife was everywhere.All in all, we loved our day in Picton. Mom, Dad, and Mike hired a taxi to go see the WWI airplane museum. They enjoyed it a lot and had great things to say about it too. We have decided that maybe Picton is better than Sitka for our retirement!
4 comments:
I'm sure it's very beautiful there...however, none of the pictures show up on the blog...just a tag that says "picture." Weren't sure you were aware.
I wish I was there sounds like everyone is haveing an amazing time!!!
Ya know, I'd like to see the pics, too, but I can do without them knowing you got to do some actual Cook-walking, Robin! I know how much you were looking forward to that, so I'm really happy for you.
No pics was my fault. They didn't come until a later email, but I posted the blog anyway because I didn't read it first!
Those are AMAZING pictures. Hey, by the way, did you get to walk where Captain Cook walked? I heard you can do that there.
No wonder you want to retire there. Get a big enough plantation for the rest of us to join you, will you? Looks like what I picture Eden to be. What a trip you're having!!
Jeff, you are a great photographer. I love seeing your trip through your eyes and Robin's words. What a treat.
Post a Comment