2 - 11 Picton, rain, Vinyards in Marlborough Region, rain, chocolate, more rain

 Picton is a small town, population 4,300,  on the northern tip of the South Island of New Zealand.  This area is a BIG grape growing region and associated vinyards, BIG business for NZ.  It has taken over the flat valley of sheep growing land,  sheep is still grown in the high lands. 

It is our first rainy day, a good day for a bus tour.  Ladies greeted our ship and gave women flowers, mine smelled heavenly.  So kind of them.  Picton will have one day visits from 40 cruise ships during their summer season.  First cruises since covid. They are glad to see us. 

                                                        

It took about 30 minutes to drive through the hilly sections before finding wine country, picturesque even through wet windows.
 

Tanks and large buidlings are signs that wine making is big business.   77% of New Zealand's wine  is grown in the Marlborough region:  86% of the wine is sauvignon blanc, 6% is pinot noir, the percent of pinot is rapid growing.  Sheep growing lands are converting over to grape growing.  I wonder where the most $$ is made???

Our guide said the growers are converting from wooden fence posts to metal.  She said its a big deal, something about durability and also the chemicals in the wood required to prevent rot may affect the grapes/flavor? After we drove by so many grape fields, I appreciate what a job it will be to convert the posts.

We saw lavender and roses growing at the edges of the grape fields.  The roses are the early warning plant - if any disease is found on the roses, it is possible that the same disease will occur on the grapes. 

 

This map shows  the location of the Marlborough Region, at the northern tip of the South Island of New Zealand.

Once again we found gin sales and tasting.  They will even refill gin bottles!  Roots is not yet available in the US.  Their goal is to sell in the US....

                            Next a quick stop at the Boutique Chocolate Factory. Their speciality is macadamia butter toffee crunch.  The samples were so good, we decided to support them by buying a box.

Willow trees are an invasive (foreign) species in the flat lands.  NZ is managing a 20 year program to kill the willow trees so that native trees survive.  The willows are chemically treated. It was easy to see the treated areas with dead willows.

After the motorcoach tour, Phil and I walked the town of Picton (about 2 blocks long).  They have a famous bakery, known for their savory (individual serving size) pies.  They sold out just as we walked in.  

                                                Does anyone know what a lolly (cake) is?

The Picton harbor is a working harbor.  A large ferry was docked next to us.  We watched it load with trailers, and cars (upto 250!).  It may be hard to tell, but this photo shows the ferry leaving the dock, exposing the Viking Mars.

 Marina near the ferry terminal.

The most unique cruise offered in Picton is the Mail Run Cruise.  This is the only licensed operator in Queen Charlotte Sound to deliver mail and freight for the NZ post.  For about $110 NZD, you can ride along on the (afternoon) delivery route.  Some locations get mail just once a week, they welcome the Mail Run boat.

The mail boats finishes at 5:30,  all on board time for Viking was 5:00, so we couldn't sign up for the mail run today.  It would have been fun, anyway its fun thinking about it!  I managed to capture this shot as it was returning to the harbor toady right on schedule at 5:30pm.

We didn't know what to make of these houses/apartments, with their unusual design.

                                        Tomorrow is an Art Deco tour in Napier, first stop on the North Island.