Day 9: A Berry Good Day

For those who have been asking (thank you), I'm feeling much better today. I most definitely had a fever last night but I feel like I've broken through the worst of it and am feeling much more human. Yay for stronger meds.

A bit of a drive this morning along the Queen Charlotte Drive. This is a 40km windy drive across the northernmost edge of the South Island. One of the downsides of travelling alone is that there is no one to elbow and have take good photos while you're going along, so you'll just have to trust me that the scenery was lovely. Huge rolling hills, ocean views, giant swathes of forests - it was one thing after another, and all beautiful.

A ways along the road is Cullens Point Lookout, which I was told had a good view back down over the Marlborough Sounds. What I was NOT told, is that it was an uphill death march to reach. I pulled in to the parking area, saw a sign that said 500m, 9 min. Psssh, I can do that, not even a problem. Started walking and then realised that it just kept going up and up and up. Now I am lazy and not that active, I'll own to that, but I was feeling mightily ashamed at how much I was struggling. Of course, even attempting it was ridiculously stupid because I was wheezing when sitting still in the car. Anyways, I didn't make it all the way to the top, but I figured the view I got was good enough.

Returning to the car was, no shock, much quicker as it was all downhill. A bit more driving ensued, hills were woven through, and podcasts were listened to. In Havelock I stopped for lunch, having scoped out a restaurant I wanted to try: The Mussel Pot. I really love seafood, but it's not something I cook for myself at home, so I'm keen to take up the opportunity for fresh seafood that New Zealand provides and I had heard good things about the green-shelled mussels at this very popular restaurant. I asked the waiter what the most popular was and he said the white wine and cream sauce. Though it doesn't look that appealing, it really was good - even paired with my odd choice of orange juice (mainlining Vitamin C).

I had intended to visit a scenic reserve not far from the restaurant but could not manage to find the entrance anywhere. Turns out that Google was sending me who knows where because I later DID drive past the entrance but it was not a safe turning spot and so I went onwards.

On the drive to my accommodation, however, I drove past a pick-your-own berries sign and I had never done that before. There was no way I was missing that! An hour later I had the freshes raspberries, strawberries, boysenberries, and karaka blackberries. I really enjoyed the satisfaction that came from picking my own (I type as I continue to eat more and more berries) and was pleasantly surprised that I took home my haul for less than $5. The hardest part was making sure the berries went in the punnet and not into my mouth.

I had a run-in with an overripe boysenberry.

Once at the accommodation I had a fairly homely night. I did the slowest load of washing ever, waiting for others to return to collect their loads before I could take each next step, and did some journaling while I waited. By the time I was done, Beauty and the Beast was playing in the TV room, and I was sold. Turns out this is how you get me to use the communal areas.

Animal Sightings: