ESSONS VALLEY, PICTON.
Country Park and Home stay

What can you actually do here ? 

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Essons Valley an old quarry discovered in our bush

If you like walking there are a variety of tracks to choose from that start right here, there is the Humphries Dam walk of about an hour and a half   (return)  that is an easy walk over a good path up to the Dam, you can than go further over a more challenging bush path to discover an even older dam and behind that dam you can explore into a fantastic valley reminiscent of Jurassic park, from then on you are truly in the wilderness. 

Barnes dam track is a more challenging foot path with a few bridges and a small tunnel that finishes at the foot of a substantial concrete dam, you can climb up the ladder and see a lake on one side and a sheer drop with a waterfall on the other, this walk also takes about an hour and a half ( return)    

The Tirahanga track with its amazing hilltop view over Picton and Waikawa and Queen Charlotte Sounds is steep and can be slippy when wet and takes about 45 minutes to the view point or about 2 hours 15 minutes as a round trip via Picton. 

And then there is also the hundreds of square kilometers of bush starting right behind our house, as the satellite picture below shows we are in the top left corner and the Cook Straight is at the right hand side with nothing much in between, we can show you how to start off and perhaps even pick you up from the coastal road on the Pacific side. If you want to go and hunt for wild boar, goats, red deer than this is a good place to start from, you can follow a stream and see how far you get or do some serious orienteering, it's up to you.

If you are more interested in the artistic side of things then Sara can introduce you to the wonderful world of ceramic art and fire your work in our on site kiln, or suggest some nice spots for water coloring or oil painting, you could have also have a go at gilding.

If you like we can have a night walk around the grounds and have a look at glow worms and possums, we can also take a rifle with us if you want to try some shooting, it is up to you.

 We also operate a scuba dive and seal swimming/ snorkel boat from here seal swim and scuba dive and you can join us for a local dive, discover wrecks, catch some crays or collect scallops we can later eat on the barbeque or if you are a keen wrekkie then try your hand at diving a huge Russian cruise ship that is only 20 years old, and in the top 10 wreck dives of the world according to the "Deep Sea Detectives" , John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, it still has beer cans behind the bar and you can dive through the ball room.

Other dives are the Lastingham and the Rangitoto although they are a bit further out on cape Jackson we regularly dive these decorative hisorical wrecks ,  the Koi is nearer and a more reliable dive suitable for all, we can do a discover scuba dive session on the Koi if you would like to try diving. Unfortunately Pupu Springs is not available to dive anymore at the moment due to didimo fears, but we can go to Port Underwood to gather food and hunt for crayfish, if you just want to wonder at the variety of Marine life then we can go to Long Island Marine reserve.

If you are interested in coming back regularly to dive here it may be a good idea to join Dive club Marlborough 

   

If you want a fabulous day out then come with us on a Seal swimming trip, we cruise the Sounds and eventually stop to interact with seals in a safe place we get in the water in our warm and safe wet suits to play with some of the most playful marine mammals in the World, You will have a great time discovering these magnificent and intelligent animals at close hand.

You can also hire the skippered boat just for you to enjoy a day or half day out in the Sounds with a picnic on one of the lovely beaches.

 

 

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