Day 4 - Havelock to Picton - Havelock

Day four dawned cold, but sunny. It may be cold but the sky is this brilliant blue. There's no humidity, just clear crisp air. It feels fantastic.

Once again our fantastic tour guide Carol, showed us around the area. We headed to Havelock first for morning tea. Then we drive to Picton via the Queen Charlotte Sounds, getting back to Blenheim around 4pm - so another good day trip and seeing the sights.

Havelock is located at the meeting point of the Pelorus and Kaiuma Rivers on the coast northwest of Blenheim. It calls itself the "green-lipped mussel capital of the world". Once a gold mining settlement, the town has many quaint colonial buildings which today house boutique galleries and eating places (be sure to order the mussels). The Havelock Museum has interesting displays that explain the town's past. At Havelock's marina there are water taxis and charter boats ready to take you fishing or show you around Pelorus and Kenepuru Sounds. Sea kayaks can also be hired here for guided or independent paddling tours. Local accommodation includes private holiday homes, a camping ground, lodges, B&Bs, homestays and motels.


The population of havelock is approximately 470 people. So it's a 'small' town!

The first thing that catches your eye when you arrive in Havelock, is the art gallery...



Brightly painted, it draws you to go and explore. Inside is just as good with a wide range of artwork available. I could have stayed in there for ages. Over the road from the art gallery was a Scottish Pub. I was fascinated in this, as I've seen plenty of Irish pubs all over the world, but never a Scottish one. The Manager was raising the flag as I was taking he image. It was a bit too early for a Haggis and a beer though, so we didn't go in!!!



While Carol, Nikki and Logan (we had Logan with us as he was sick), wandered around the art gallery, I headed up the road to have a look and take photos of some other buildings. I wonder what happened here...



Probably too much beer and haggis at The Clansman!

I met up with a motorcyclist in colourful garb. He seemed to fit in with the decor, so I asked him to pose for me. He was more than happy to and I was very appreciative of this. I know you're not meant to talk to strangers but I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity!



Even with a population of only 470 people, Havelock still boasted a reasonable sized town hall...



The crime rate is obviously not that big though, because in comparison, the cop shop was small...



It's said to be the Green-Lipped mussell capital of the world. So we headed to the Mussel Pot Cafe for morning tea. I didn't feel like mussels though. I was beginning to get a sore throat and I wasn't that hungry.



Instead I had a drink and some chips. Beautiful gold chips - the big ones, not like the tiny french fries that you get everywhere in the USA. If you look closely, thats a cup of coffee, and the plate is twice the size of the coffee cup. Now look at the length of that chip!!! Huge! That's why I took the photo!



No wonder the cop shop is small - look at the size of their church!!




Anyway - thats the Havelock part - I will some more tomorrow. I have now done 123 photos for Blenheim, I only have 505 to go!!