The sunny days have arrived!

Posted by Peter on 4 November 2010 | 439 Comments

November. Labour weekend and Marlborough anniversary are over. As if on cue, the sunny days have arrived and the season is upon us.

We had the first cruise ship arrive in Picton last week and I dutifully tootled over and picked up a group from the tourist information centre. Most of these people had been (or would be) on the cruise ship for a month. The sceptics in Marlborough assured me that the last thing these passengers would want to do, was step on board another boat. In vain I pointed out that people who choose to spend a whole month on a cruise, may not be a typical sample of the population at large: rather, these might be people who just love sailing, and sailing in style, in particular. So the choice of seeing Marlborough by road, or by river, would be a simple one for many of them and so it proved. They loved the boat. One wag even asked for a job, but I couldn’t quite picture him washing dishes in the galley, which is about are only opening at the moment.

My step daughter Shona has returned from studies in England, to enjoy a summer of swabbing decks and serving bar. Although no sooner has she arrived, than she’s threatening to organise all manner of party cruises for the youngsters of Blenheim. I’m too old to join in apparently. Actually I love the energy of the 20 somethings, but I’m content to welcome any party groups on board and then retreat before the gangplank is lifted. They can keep their iPod high-decibel, speaker-threatening, thumping noise, which is music to their ears, accompanied by one RTD or another and I’ll hang on to Frank Sinatra and a good glass of local wine. It’s just good to know that different generations can enjoy The River Queen.

Of course heading into an antipodean summer also means approaching Christmas. We’ve our share of Xmas parties already booked, with the promise of mayhem on the riverbank rope-swings in prospect. There is one particular rope which is secured high up a tree, so that it is pretty daunting to climb up to it, let alone take the decision to leap out over the flowing river. Fortunately the Opawa is a tranquil river. In fact rather than deter people, the closeness of cooling water on a hot summer evening is a sore temptation, and people just love to leap in – we’re forever fishing them out. Just one more job for us.

As well as our first Xmas parties this November, we’ve also got the local A&P Show – that’s Agricultural and Pastoral to you and a bit like the County Shows in the UK – and the popular Garden Marlborough event. And for those of you who read the previous Blog, we are also expecting the local district councillors to join us for a cruise. I’ll let you know how that goes. Should be a busy month...