22nd Dec 2010 - a Scenic Ride from Picton to Nelson
From Picton Top 10 Holiday Park to Nelson (well, its beach suburb called Tananui 3kms south of the town), a total of about 71 miles or 110kms. We were relieved that the rain didn't return and had a pleasant evening drinking tea and a little beer. Today we chatted to a NZ couple heading north to near Whanganui (North Island so catching the ferry) for a family Christmas. They had a nice NZ designed tent similar in some ways to our Saunders but without Saunders idea of just using one pole to base the tent around and thus reducing the weight. The nice bright yellow is certainly more jaunty than our dark green. Green is useful if you end up free camping since it is less easy to spot the tent.We did eventually set off and headed out of town towards Havelock (I guess it is named after the general of that name from a long while ago), the green lipped mussel capital of the world (or was it the tight-lipped mussel capital...). It started with a great ride along Queen Charlotte Drive, which had stunning viees over hills and water. Then through Linkwater, past the scene in the picture (at full resolution you can see a little dot of a windsurfer zooming over the water in a decent force 4), then over a modest col with a little walk to Cullens Lookout - excellent views - and down to Havelock. We ate a green lipped mussel pie ($6) which was very tasty - cream and mussels in a pie and chatted to two cyclists, Mel and Charlie, from Newcastle doing a biking and working holiday. They had done North Island in 3 months and now were embarking like us on South Island. They had a trailer too which they are intending to sell since it is, apparently, quite heavy. Some cyclists love trailers and much prefer them to panniers - less strain on the rear wheel possibly, and easier to separate from the bike, plus big carrying capacity - a surf board and wetsuit would be viable just about (hmmm). But they do add weight that is particularly noticeable up hills and the more wheels the more chance of a puncture, the more maintenance and the more rolling resistance. They have a web site at http://melandcharliehindley.blogspot.com. They were heading towards a Dept of Conservation campsite - I think at Pelorus. We headed out a little while after them but overtook them because they'd had a puncture.We headed through Canvastown, Pelorus Bridge and Pia Valley (wow was the wind gusty there - the headwind brought us to a halt and nearly into the ditch), then over Pia Valley Summit (247m) then a nice downhill before another climb, a little bigger and very picturesque with rounded hills the size of Cader Idris dotted about covered in bush, and finally downhill to the coastal undulations. Then alonf the flat coastal plain into Nelson, where we shopped and thenheaded to the beachside campsite. This is, unfortunately right by the airport, so during the main part of the day you do get to see lots of small to medium sized planes. Pity we're not plane spotters.Today's festive beers included Spruce Beer as drunk on Captain Cook's expedition. Apart from the usual hops, yeast and malt there was Tea Tree (I think that's the same as Manuka) and Spruce - the pine tree. Tasted herby and very drinkable.The campsite kitchen is pretty good but unfortunately has a TV which is always either a. telling you shocker tabloid stories from around the world (mixed with a small dose of sentimental pap about cats being rescued from trees, etc) or b. puerile chat shows with people laughing at funny noises, putting on funny voices, with a touch of celeb flim flam as the icing on the unhealthy cake.This did not stop us staying up quite late drinking tea and reading (serious books - George Sand La Mare Au Diable in my case, Guy is ploughing through gaelic and audiobooks).
From Picton Top 10 Holiday Park to Nelson (well, its beach suburb called Tananui 3kms south of the town), a total of about 71 miles or 110kms. We were relieved that the rain didn't return and had a pleasant evening drinking tea and a little beer. Today we chatted to a NZ couple heading north to near Whanganui (North Island so catching the ferry) for a family Christmas. They had a nice NZ designed tent similar in some ways to our Saunders but without Saunders idea of just using one pole to base the tent around and thus reducing the weight. The nice bright yellow is certainly more jaunty than our dark green. Green is useful if you end up free camping since it is less easy to spot the tent.We did eventually set off and headed out of town towards Havelock (I guess it is named after the general of that name from a long while ago), the green lipped mussel capital of the world (or was it the tight-lipped mussel capital...). It started with a great ride along Queen Charlotte Drive, which had stunning viees over hills and water. Then through Linkwater, past the scene in the picture (at full resolution you can see a little dot of a windsurfer zooming over the water in a decent force 4), then over a modest col with a little walk to Cullens Lookout - excellent views - and down to Havelock. We ate a green lipped mussel pie ($6) which was very tasty - cream and mussels in a pie and chatted to two cyclists, Mel and Charlie, from Newcastle doing a biking and working holiday. They had done North Island in 3 months and now were embarking like us on South Island. They had a trailer too which they are intending to sell since it is, apparently, quite heavy. Some cyclists love trailers and much prefer them to panniers - less strain on the rear wheel possibly, and easier to separate from the bike, plus big carrying capacity - a surf board and wetsuit would be viable just about (hmmm). But they do add weight that is particularly noticeable up hills and the more wheels the more chance of a puncture, the more maintenance and the more rolling resistance. They have a web site at