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Pete & Pam go Travelling
We are now officially living in the Malborough Sounds for the Summer season! Having been working at the Portage Resort for just over 6 weeks we realise just how much we have fallen on our feet here! Pete and I work no more than 50 hours a week and both get two days off together. We have made friends with some of the locals who have lived out here for years, and we are really enjoying the rural life.
A couple of weeks ago we bought a car which we use to get away with on our days off. Its a big beast of a vehicle, but has done us well so far! We paid $1700 for it, which wasn't bad at all!
On our days off we have been trying to get away and see as much of the surrounding areas and towns as possible.
We went on a wine tour of Malborough's best wineries, tasting some world class Chardonnay's and Sav Blancs. We have spent some time in and around Blenheim - which coinsidentally - I found out my dad was based here in the air force many years ago. I'm sure much has changed since then. Grape growing in this area has only been going for 20 years, so there wouldn't have been a single grape in those days!!! Pete and I are taking a keen interest in wines and have even gone so far as to attend a master class wine tasting session that compared new world and old world wine. It was very interesting!
Two weeks ago we drove out to Nelson and spent two
nights away there. We stayed in a lovely motel and had a fantastic dinner one night in a place called Cafe Affair. We had a raw steak, prawns and scallops brought to the table with a hot volcanic rock. You cut pieces of steak and then cook it yourself on this hot rock. That with a good bottle of wine was delicious!! We went on a gourmet wine tour of Nelson area the next day. We went to 4 wine farms, a cider farm and a liqueur producing place. It was a pretty boozy day, and just so happened it was my dad's birthday that day... so a good excuse to raise a few glasses!! We planned to go back to that area soon and spend some time in the Abel Tasman National Park. This is reputed to have some of the best beaches in NZ and you can go kayaking all up the coast.
Last week on our days off we spent cruising the Queen Charlotte Sound and walked some of the famous Queen Charlotte track. On the cruise we passed a school of dolphins that followed us for a while and played around the boat. Then went on as far as Ship's Cove which was where Captain Cook first landed at New Zealand. That was awesome!! On the Queen Charlotte Track we walked between Ferneaux lodge and Punga Cove, then got the boat back to Portage. It was a fun day out and best of all its free to staff!!!
We have hired a couple of kayaks and kayaked the Kenepuru sound over to a mussel farm and back again. Then are so many little private beaches to go to when you take a kayak out that you can't get to by road. It's amazing!!
We have seen some of the most dramatic and amazing sunsets we have ever seen in our lives here. I have tried to capture them on camera as best I can. They really do take your breath away though!
Portage itself has very limited facilities - we rely on tank water, so when it rains its a good thing! Otherwise in the summer trucks bring us water in, so its quite a limited resource. There are no phone lines, just a satellite link, and computer internet access is a nightmare. It is so slow, like cavemans dial-up! Other than that it is a great place to spend a summer season working. We get to do all the activities free of charge, and meet some interesting people along the way.
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