I woke up about 3:09 a.m. It was a bit rocky and I never really went back to sleep the rest of the night.
We were docked again today but at an industrial pier full of logs being exported (mainly to China). Again, as yesterday, no food allowed off the ship. This morning our bags were hand searched. We found out later that the food sniffing dog had just not arrived yet when we were getting off the ship! He and his handler flew in from Wellington later.
These are the views from our aft balcony.
Once we left the ship, we took the shuttle buses into town. Valerie & Ian had rented a car and we set off to several locations that were about an hour or so out of town into the country. The countryside is hilly and green with vineyards and farms everywhere.
Jim made the ship's photographers get together so he could take their picture since they're always after us to get our picture taken!
* the Makana Chocolate Factory: they're known for their macadamia nut chocolate but I bought caramel and walnut (of course since I don't like macadamia nuts).
* the Vines Village: we had snacks & coffee; there was a quilt shop but before I had a chance to really look around, a tour bus stopped and the place was overrun and too crowded so I left. There was only one bus there when we arrived so it wasn't too busy.
* Brancott Winery: tasted some wine at their 7,000 acre vineyard
* Twelve Trees - stopped for lunch
We had to be back on board by 2:30 so after lunch we headed straight back to town. We passed lots of vineyards and lots of sheep!
There were plenty of buses ready to take us back to the ship.
The sail away in the afternoon through this beautiful sound and country was very nice. I think we might have to think about coming back to New Zealand again! We felt very comfortable here.
The ferry went ahead of us!
Our towel animal for the night:
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