March 23 – 28, 2016
After we arrived back in Picton, the front came in with its usual pattern: northerly winds followed by southerly winds that bring chilly air up from colder regions of the planet. This can make for pretty schizophrenic temperatures at times: hot one day, cold the next. Mostly, though, it’s comfortably warm.
What was unusual about this front was that the southerly winds were much stronger than predicted. We were very glad we’d gone into the marina when it gusted to 60 knots during the southerly! We wondered if this was a regular occurrence here, but after seeing some minor damage to boats in the marina (ripped canvas seams, shredded flags), we concluded it wasn’t. This was later confirmed by people we asked, who assured us that wasn’t normal at all! Hopefully we won’t be seeing this again, but we’ll make sure we’re in a well-protected anchorage if southerlies are due!
Picton is a small town, but we found a few culinary gems while we were here. The first I’ve mentioned: Oxley’s Rock with its fabulous green-lipped mussels in garlic, butter and wine broth. This was the first place we made a beeline for after stepping off the boat. I could have eaten here every day.
Another favorite was the incredible French toast at the Seabreeze Cafe. They make it with a baguette and somehow give it a thin caramelized crust, then it’s smothered with bacon and maple syrup. It’s Rich’s favorite French toast ever.
Our latest discovery was the really good pizzas at Cafe Cortado, especially the shrimp and garlic prawn pizza. They also make a delicious signature coffee drink that’s espresso with a little milk.
There’s also a very good Dutch bakery that makes excellent bread, and good place for ice cream if you pass up the Chateau brand (I can’t even imagine why they would offer this low-budget, inferior brand) and go for the Deep South brand, which is wonderful.
Finally, there’s this sign at Gusto, a local coffee cafe. We liked the coffee, but we loved this sign:
–Cyndi
