This last weekend (27-29 April), Dan and I visited Marlborough. It was the first time that Dan had set foot on the soil of the mainland / Te Wai Pounamu / the South Island and his initial comment was that 'it was pretty much like the North Island'. Some people clearly have no appreciation for regional diversity! ; )
The Adventure Begins.... We set off to catch the Interislander after work on Friday night and, due to a slight miscalculation of walking time and completely INEPT signage (i.e. there wasn't any) as to how to get to the ferry terminal, we nearly missed the boat. Literally. But fortunately we happened upon a good-natured young accountant who showed us the way and we made it just in time. We sailed out of the steadily darkening harbour and all appeared well. The lights of the Wellington waterfront twinkled at us and the sights and sounds of the Hurricanes v Highlanders entertained us. OK, well the rugby was on in the lounge we happened to be sitting in. The only low-light of the fairly smooth ferry ride was the 15 minutes of pitching as we left Wellington harbour. And the really rather rubbish catering. The combination of the two made for an uneasy quarter of an hour...
Roughly three hours later (no pun intended), we arrived in the bustling port of Picton. After checking in to our motel, we headed into the big smoke to check out the local fleshpots. And it didn't disappoint. After realising that the only food places still open were the charcoal chicken joint and the service station, we headed for the only drinking establishment that still seemed to be open on the main drag: the Flying Haggis. Which, if you didn't pick the subtle use of symbolism in the name, was a Scottish pub. And talk about your hyper-real proliferation of signifiers! It was only matched in this by the discovery a street over of Seamus's Irish Bar.... On the plus side, the people at the Haggis were friendly, poured real pints and kept the kitchen open to make us some chips. Heh! Well some effects of living in Britain for 7 years have to linger on...
We then headed back to our motel to get some rest before taking in the sights and Sounds (heh!) of Marlborough. Comment from Dan as we turned in: 'It's really quiet here...'
Will post more - along with pictures - shortly...
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2 comments:
Tres amusant.
I see you and Dan have your priorities sight when travelling i.e. arrive in new place and then head straight out for a scoff. Kana-chan and I are exactly the same. I'm a tad surprised there were no veggie options at the charcoal chicken place though.
Dan's comments on the geography and atmosphere of the Mainland are most insightful too:-)
A poor traveller always blames the INEPT signage(with apologies to the workman). I trust Dan didn't go to the S.I for noise! dad
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