DAY 60 DAY 48 SERENITY

2/24/2020

WELCOME TO PICTON NEW ZEALAND

We returned to the Avenue Saloon for a pre-dinner drink. We tend to go to the Avenue when we have dinner at Prego or Umi Uma as it is located in the same position as these two restaurant and is one deck below them.

At the bottom of the Prego Bar is K & A. It's not for us but we think it is cute.

These are the dinner menus from Waterside.

We returned to Prego for dinner and dined with Hotel Director Scott Peterson. Scott joined the ship the other day in Auckland, New Zealand as Hotel Director Hubert went back home to Austria for a well deserved holiday.

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner with great conversation, terrific cuisine and outstanding service.

Evening entertainment featured two shows by the amazing Ian Cooper who dazzled the guests with his violin and two performances by the amazing dancers Curtis Collins & Beverly Durand who performed Crystal Dance Stars not once but two times as well.

Serenity left Wellington at 10:00 PM and made our way to the next port of call of Picton, New Zealand.

The start of a beautiful day thirty minutes before we had breakfast in our room.

A little later before our arrival.

Getting ready to dock at the pier.

Picton is a town in New Zealand’s Marlborough Region. It is located in close proximity to the head of the Queen Charlotte Sound. It has a relatively small population of just a few thousand residents.

Major attractions include:

Edwin Fox Maritime Center which is home to one of the oldest sailing ships intake world; Edwin Fox built in 1853 from Burma teak.

Picton Museum which hosts many items of interest related to the whaling industry along with items from Maori Early Settlers.

Eco World Aquarium & Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre which is home to many fish species from the Marlborough Sounds. It also has Little Blue Penguins, Lizards and Turtles.

Many tourists visit Picton to explore the Marlborough Sound. There is a ferry taking passengers across the Cook Strait over to the North Island. The Marlborough Sounds includes river valley and islands, which are a legacy to the Ice Age.

The town has a nice selection of arts, crafts, and souvenirs and a wide choice of accommodations. It has many waterfront cafes and fine restaurants. The restaurants feature a wide selection of seafood.

Many excursions will take visitors to the major wine-growing region, which produces Marlborough wines.

When we were here last in 2011 we considered a wine tasting excursion but decided to visit the town instead. This time we did do a wine tasting excursion with Charles and Alice who we sailed with last on Serenity last April.

We visited both three boutique family and larger wineries in Marlborough. We visited Forrest Brancott Estate, and Rockferry Wineries. We also had a light lunch of cheese and bread at Rockferry. We took a different route on our return and stopped off to view Monkey Bay.

We learned a lot about the wine areas and the wines. Fay our tour guide was outstanding and we had a super day with beautiful scenery and lovely wine.