Thursday, 17 May 2012
With a fair idea of the lie of the land, we'd decided Thursday was the in town day, largely due to the guided tour of the Botanical Gardens that runs from ten o'clock each Thursday.
I was half inclined to go on that myself, but experience suggested the tour would be followed by extensive photographic action, and I wanted to get in and have a look at the Historical Society Museum as well...
There was also a load of washing to do dealt with some time during the day, so the eventual plan of attack involved breakfast at the kiosk on the wharf, a quick trip out to Finch's Bay, calling in to the Botanic Gardens along the way to verify the starting time for the botanical tour, drop Hughesy at the Historical Society and head back to the wharf for fish and chips for lunch.
Remarks about lengthy photographic sessions might seem flippant, but I'm currently sitting in the Historical Society tapping this section of the travelogue at 11:33 with no sign of the lift to lunch.
Breakfast looking out over the water was very pleasant, something that'll definitely be repeated, maybe not tomorrow or before we head off on Saturday morning, but then again you never know.
Finch's Bay was apparently a popular swimming spot way back when, not that you'd know it from the road that gets you there. The bitumen stops right after the Gardens and the track meanders through the scrub, delivering you to a broad sandy beach with rainforest running right down to the waterline from the outliers of Mount Cook on the right and from the slopes of Grassy Hill on the left. More...