28 January: Koromiko and Picton-bound

Koromiko Private Park-Over (Freedom camping)

Our camp at the Koromiko site - peaceful and warm!

Our final stop before the ferry trip the following morning and we didn't want to stop in noisy Picton again. So we picked a Park Over Property (POP) not too far away from the terminal (about a 7 min drive) and we were so glad we did! 

Another massive paddock space with lots of trees this time for lots of choice of shade (it was very warm by now). Beautiful spring water came from the nearby mountains - from where you could see a astrological observatory. It made me laugh when we asked Darren, the 7-year-old-going-on-17-year old -campsite warden grandson - had he walked up there? 'That's impossible' he exclaimed, as if walking up the hill was totally unheard of!

In between Darren's "why?s' and cute 'excuse me's', Justin fixed his bike which had no brakes and a flat tyre! We lit the BBQ with our bucket of water close by - unsure of the rules but pretty confident no-one in a place like this would object.

We went into Picton (properly this time, because on the way out we didn't have enough time to explore) to get some provisions, use the dump-station and investigate the park and river. It was a very interesting place, and beautifully kept too. This sculpture of a diving whale by a local artist took on new meaning after the recent massive stranding event off Golden Bay:

Dizzy found a lovely cool stream to cool off in...

 ...and this was the view of the town from the park:

 The ferry journey an implicit part of most people's journey in Picton:

 One rather unexpected find - this lonely lifeboat situated at the rear of the supermarket car park as some kind of abstract memorial. Apparently there was a Russian ship that ran-aground off the coast here in Picton harbour in February 1986. There was (unsurprisingly) a considerable controversy about who was to blame for the shipwreck (a kiwi captain was in the bridge while the Russian took a break) in which thankfully all but one of the passengers and crew survived (despite the lifesaving equipment being in appalling condition). It's tragic that three others have since died - recreational divers.

Sightseeing over, the next job was starting to put things together for our ferry trip across the Cook Strait tomorrow morning  - sandwiches made. Books packed! Back to North Island we go! :)