Hello from Picton

Hi all,
Yesterday, we spent the entire day and into the evening on the Wairau River attempting to fish. Another incredibly beautiful, braided river system in the middle of a valley with the northern coastal range jutting up on one side, and hundreds of acres of grapes on another side with the foothills of the Kaikoura Range beyond that. The day was sunny and warm and as happens when you are fishing--time passes and passes and before you know it you are sunburned beyond belief. I did not see or catch one fish. The only thing I did catch was the fishing game warden. Two guys sauntered up and engaged me in conversation for a while before presenting their badges. I, ofcourse, did not have my fishing license--Joel did. But it became clear to them that I was not a criminal and I did in fact purchase my license in a teeny weeny town of about 25 people. We were hot and tired and knew we were not going to make the New Year's celebration in town. So, instead we had yet another fabulous Indian dinner, got back and showered and layered on goop for burns and promptly went to sleep.
We left for Picton (25 minutes away) this morning and were glad that we returned here. We had been here a year ago. It is such a special place. We took a very long hike out one of the arms that extend into the Queen Charlotte Sound. It was incredibly hot and dry and much of the four hours of hiking was in the sun. I hobbled back into town and couldn't get to the store fast enough for a popsicle. We took cold showers and are just chilling right now. We continue to meet such nice people. We leave in the morning for Kaikoura--the scene of my little car mishap--and hope to go whale watching this time. Happy New Year for reals up there. Much Love, Linny