Our final full day in the bay. Matters had come to something of a head as we had nothing planned for the next week, with the next fixed point being Blenheim to stay with another cousin. Everything seemed very booked up. We had hoped to go to Kaikoura, but there was nothing to be found in the way of accommodation, and the train was also booked up. Finally we booked ourselves a large house, four bedrooms in Picton on the mainland. It cost a couple of hundred NZ dollars more than the next plausible option, which was what seemed liked an old and miserable inn near the ferry terminal, but it seemed worth the expense to me since we will be working during the week and spending a reasonable amount of time there.
In the afternoon we went back up the Queen Charlotte Track, this time to walk in the other direction. This proved to be uphill all the ways, though the views were perhaps better, looking over towards less inhabited bays.
Then back and a repeat of the previous evening. Tomorrow, some time in the afternoon, we leave for Picton. Our host seems confident that he can take us and that our luggage will fit in his dinghy but I think it’s unlikely myself. We might have to get a water taxi.
The fire is still raging in Nelson.