Today we drove from Nelson to picton....firstly we had a look and walk around the city of Nelson....very pretty???lots of flowers over every shop???Liz and Trevor tell us this costs the shop owners $200 per year for council to maintain and the few shops that do not do it are Aussie shops! Not sure about that but definately not every shop does it...but a fantastic little town! Really liked Nelson! Drove to Haverton where we had coffee at the slip inn at the yacht club....so many yachts for a small town...lovely views....pittwater is nothing compared to this...our first view of the sounds! Amazing...miles and miles of natural parkland and islands and water...so protected for sail and motor boats! We were told that people from Christchurch and Wellington moor their boats here! Not surprising! Thanks to Liz again, we drove the coast road...Queen Charlotte Drive from Halverston to Picton...what a spectacular drive...eye candy around every corner! And there were lots of corners! Very tired by end of drive! We booked a B&B ... Never knew it was that but it was...we drove thru picton and out in the country looking for it....I thought it was right on the water in picton! But after 3 attempts we finally found it 15 minutes out of town....a driveway up it that would scare the brave,...including us...gravel, on a steep corner and a 45 degree incline!!! Once up, view is to die for....totally deserted place way up high in the hills...can see every boat that leaves or enters picton...bedroom, bathroom, lounge area plus picnic table and chairs outdoors on balcony....so so beautiful! We arrived at about 1pm and she had not got our rooms ready so we went back to town for lunch and a walk around town, checking out where to drop off our rental car (can't take a rental car from one island to next), and where to take ferry...was a nice day till then....on our way back to B&B got really dark and rainy....when we got there it cleared again...lady made us a coffee and banana cake and we had a good chat....then played cards, got ready for dinner and it poured so hard we did not go out...had some bread and cheese instead....an hour or so later it cleared up again....very strange weather here!