Lochmara and Picton.

Sometimes just talking to folk presents some lovely surprises, as was the case when our waitress suggested to us there was a lovely place in the Sounds called Lochmara  to visit, if we were spending time in Picton. We located the office easily near the jetties and discovered we could leave that afternoon at 3.15 pm and stay over night. Only reached by their own water taxi or by walking in via the Queen Charlotte track, we took to the water with Sean the owner. Just the 2 of us and a pack of mussels for the restaurant.

 The journey by water taxi usually takes 15 minutes but there was a couple walking the track to the next bay along so we agreed to an extra long ride to pick them up as they too were staying the night at Lochmara. 4 guest in the whole place! As so often happens  in NZ we later discovered we knew a whole lot of people in common and had plenty to talk about as we took our meals together over the next 24 hours.

Lochmara Lodge from it's jetty.

 This is Lochie who greeted us and showed us to our room ( and jumped straight up on the couch and said. " I like this room, I'll share." ) In the photo he is taking a nap outside thoroughly exhausted after chasing sticks - his favourite game.

 At night and in the morning this kept us warm in the restaurant.

 There was a lovely waitress and a chef still on duty with just 4 of us to feed.( blue cod  for me ) The lodge closes over the Winter months so we were some of the very last guests for the season. During the Summer months it is a very popular place to stay for walkers, day trippers, canoeists, yachties and longer term guests.

There are many walks and things to see and do. We gave the rope swing into the sounds a miss and the flying fox as there was no operator. We viewed many art forms - some we liked others not so much. What about these....

 ...and this 

 and this is a rather large lump of Pounamu ( green stone )

 We would heartly recommend spending some time here.

 Back in Picton we walked the waterfront and checked out the boats ( all sizes. )

 I liked these beautifully painted old boatsheds.