Picton to Nelson

So reviews of the holiday park I stayed mentioned trains 3 times a night. Either I slept through it or they counted night as up till 8am as I didn't hear any until after I was up.

My next port of call was Nelson to see Di and co. If i'd wanted to I could have done a big day and got there in one day but as Di was only getting back from aus the next day that would have been pointless so I had two easy days.

I headed along Queen Charlotte Drive for most of the ride. Basically every corner had a view I wanted to stop for.

I stopped for a whole to watch the Interislander come into Picton. The riding was great. A few gentle climbs and although the road was narrow in sections the speed limit was only 50 so it was never a problem.

This really is a road you have to ride. And I had a stunning day! Once I got to Havelock the riding got a little less enjoyable as I was back on the main highway.

Very early in the afternoon I reached Pelorus Bridge. This was my second serviced doc campsite and it was great. Much nicer than most other commercial parks.

There were some nice short walks around although some rain came through so I stayed in my tent mostly.

I did have a chat to the ranger about the Maungatapu track. I'd thought about doing it instead of going around closer to the coast. Apparently a mountain biker would find it tough. Even though it was only 35km to Nelson it could have easily taken all day as I'd have to walk long sections, quite possibly including the descent. I decided to give it a miss.

During dinner there was me with a big bowl of pasta, a girl tramping with a big bowl of rice and a couple with a cup of soup each...

Just before sunset I decided to go for a walk. Apparently  a 2 hours return. I managed to get to one end in only half an hour, but the light was fading fast. The track was quite well worn so even in the low light it was very easy to retrace my steps and I had my torch if I needed it.

I got back and headed to bed.

Distance day 54km total 2264km
Ascent day 500m total 27,100m

The day started out looking like rain.  But it wasn't very cold and I had a house to look forward to do I want worried.

I'm always amazed that pretty much every morning I'm the only one up before sunrise, and I often don't see many people til I'm leaving. Today was a bit different as I had a chat to a few people so left closer to 9am, I did only have a short day ahead.

Within the first hour the sun had managed to burn off all the cloud so it was a great ride.

People I'd chatted to had mentioned two big hills, and I'd seen the elevation graph for the day but I'd forgotten the specifics. Both climbs were fairly easy except for a decent stretch approaching the top of the first hill which had me out of the saddle for a while. I may have been able to grind a bit seated but I managed it alright maybe brushing the red zone occasionally.

Over the top of the first hill was the main time I needed to brake heavily to get around the corners otherwise both were just a nice flowy descent, perhaps a little slow though.

There was one final climb Gentle Annie, and it was very gentle as I barely noticed it.

From there it was a short descent down to the coast and an easy ride with a gentle tailwind making it very easy. I had noticed a cycle track off the road but decided to give it a miss as it was just the footpath with lots of driveways. A little bit later I did decide to give it a Terry when I'd gotten stock of the vibrations from the road. The track was quite nice to ride on except for a few road crossings

I had a quick look in town before heading towards Mark and Di's. I went on a cycle path again. The first section I wasn't very impressed with. They'd taken the "Copenhagen" style but stuffed it up by making the bikes give way at every intersection. A bit later it got off the road and that was great.

I was welcomed in the driveway by Di. Although I'd only stayed in Palmy less than a week before and I'd caught up with Alie and Matt a few days ago it's always great to see people you know.

I was a little tired but everyone was exhausted from their aus trip as delays had given them basically no sleep.

After a couple of errands including grabbing maps for the South Island we were back enjoying a few beers in the sun before having dinner.

Distance day 63km total 2337km
Ascent day 700m total 27,800m

I'd thought about heading off the next day but looking at the maps and where campsites were I couldn't have had the late start I wanted so I decided to take it easy.

The previous day Zoey had been really shy but it didn't take long before she was giving me hugs.

Besides a supermarket shop I wanted to head into a camping store to bit some water purification tablets. I hadn't had much need for them up to that point but over the next few weeks there's a few tracks I want to do that will have me away for towns did up to 4 days so I figured I should get some.

It turns out I picked the right store as the woman who helped me had actually cycled both the tracks I wanted to do. She had done them with her husband on loaded mountain bikes but other than be careful of weather she made no attempt to persuade me which is very reassuring.

Hopefully I'll be able to get going fairly early tomorrow, although with how late subset is nowadays I shouldn't have any problems even if I'm a bit lazy.

I actually want to give myself a big target one day soon just to see how I cope as really the desert road was the closest thing to a hard day in weeks besides bad weather.