Day 21: Nelson to Havelock

Distance: 75.3k
Distance so far: 1,331.2k
Speed: ?
Runkeeper log: 1

Today marked the start of my return journey to Blenheim, and the end of my side-trip to Nelson. I'm going back a different - and somewhat more direct - way than the way I arrived, taking State Highway 6, and stopping at Havelock.

There were two major hills for the day, and one small one, all towards the start of the day's riding. The first one, to the Whangamoa Saddle, was fairly epic. The slope wasn't the steepest, but it was still fairly tough, and it just went on, and on, and on, without any respite until the saddle itself. The saddle is at nearly 400 meters above sea level, so I shouldn't be surprised, but it was a very long climb.

For some reason, even though I started Runkeeper recording as I left Nelson, it didn't actually start tracking me until part way up the climb, so today's distance is extrapolate from Google Maps and my route, and runkeeper's average speed for today is, safe to say, entirely inaccurate.

Going down the first hill was a blast, though - mostly straight, with gentle curves and a good slope. The runkeeper page is malfunctioning a bit, so I can't check my top speed, but I'm fairly confident it was about as fast as I've ever gone.

The second hill came not long after the first. After a long and gentle climb up to it - gentle enough I could still make reasonable time on it - the last bit up to the summit was very steep indeed, requiring me to take a break even in the lowest gear. Once over it, though, all the climbing for the day was done, which was a bit of a relief.

Nelson's the sunniest place in NZ, and the rest of the top of the South Island isn't far behind, so the weather was its usual gorgeous self today. It started off cold enough that I wished I had gloves, particularly on the fast downhill sections, but warmed up pretty quickly to a pleasant temperature, never getting hot enough to be a bother.

I stopped briefly at a couple of small towns along the way for coffee and then lunch, and made it into Havelock, the "Mussel Capital of the World", about 1PM.

My room for the night is at the "Rutherford Backpackers'", a YHA hostel, which I booked due to the apparent lack of any BBH hostels in town. It's easily the most run down and dirty of the places I've stayed so far - though it's not any cheaper despite that - and to my intense frustration, there's a shiny, new, and nice looking hostel just across the road, bearing a BBH sign in the window, and a placard proclaiming the exact same rates as here. Why it didn't show up on BBH's site or searches for "havelock hostel", I have no idea. Unfortunately, I've already paid for the night, so I'll have to put up with my current arrangements.

Day off no. 2

Well, at least I have a replacement gear lever. That little snapping feeling as it indexes between gears is remarkably satisfying. And they gave the trike its 1200km tuneup. The continued absence of my mudguards stopped being amusing some time ago, though. At this point my best option seems to be to move on and chase them up over the phone, again. I predict they will finally meet up with me as I arrived, bespeckled with mud, in Bluff, at which point I will no longer need them.

I haven't planned any activities for today, so I'm at a bit of a loose end at the hostel. I'm half tempted to set out for my next destination, Havelock, but it's 75k, and setting out for it at 1PM feels like a bad idea. And my thighs are telling me that maybe a second day off isn't such a bad thing after all.

My plans after getting back to Blenheim are to continue on to Kaikoura, which will either be one epically long but mostly flat day, or two fairly short ones. From there, my initial plan was to head inland to Hanmer Springs, and from there to Christchurch, but I'm pondering skipping Hanmer Springs. It's a bit of a diversion, requires a bit of backtracking, and I've been there I-don't-know-how-many times. It's a nice area, scenically, though. I'll see how I feel about it as I approach Kaikoura.

Bonus(?) day off

I called into the post office today, and while the parts to attach my mudguards (sent separately) had arrived, the mudguards themselves hadn't. Also, the replacement gear lever for my bike didn't arrive until the afternoon, so the bike shop couldn't install it today.

As a result, it seems I've got no other option than to take an extra day off in Nelson - so I'll be here tomorrow, too, rather than on the road back to Blenheim. I'd honestly rather be back on the move again, but at least my bonus day off is in a nice town.

Today I went on a wine tour with a bunch of other people, the youngest of whom was at least 10 years my senior. I had fun, though, and liked a couple of wines enough to buy some and have them shipped to me.

Day 20: St Arnaud to Nelson

Distance: 94.3k
Distance so far: 1,254.9k
Speed: 21.3k/h
Runkeeper log: 1


Note: This post refers to the 23rd of February, even though I'm posting it on the 24th. Today is a rest day.


If the hills made yesterday miserable, they made up for it today, with interest. Today's route from St Arnaud to Nelson was largely downhill, with only 3 significant climbs. Most of the downhill was similar in nature to the uphill I experienced yesterday, an incredibly gentle slope that, on the uphill side makes everything a bit more of a drag, but on the downhill side makes riding awesome. Instead of puttering along at 18k/h up a slope so shallow I can't see it, I spent the day cruising along at 25-30k/h, putting in practically no effort as I did so - as my average speed for the day demonstrates.


I started later than usual, since breakfast at the Alpine Lodge starts at 8, and the forecast was for rain to clear in the afternoon, which I wanted to give it plenty of time to do. It was still spitting a bit when I left, but stayed mostly clear as I made the first climb, back to the turnoff to Nelson. Once I was there, the glorious downhill started, and I was able to roar down that section in no time. Pretty soon I had to stop and take off one of my tops, since the day was milder than expected, and the rain absent entirely.


The second major hill hit just as the rain did, so after another stop to change clothes - this time to put on the raincoat - I conquered that climb too. Descending a fairly steep hill afterwards, with rain stinging every exposed bit of skin, was nevertheless still quite fun.


The third climb was much more gradual and sustained, starting with a weird section where the road appears to slope downhill, but actually climbs noticeably. This sort of illusion was somewhat of a theme for the day - often sections that appeared to be uphill were actually flat or even marginally downhill, and sections that appeared to be flat were noticeably downhill. It's weird to gear down for something and then discover you're not actually losing any momentum.


Finally, with all three main climbs out of the way, the rest of the day was glorious downhill, or flat, the whole way. While yesterday's ride seemed like an endless chore, today's was a breeze.


The last 12k or so into Nelson is largely along cycle trails - quite nice, and usually (though not always) well signposted ones. A word of advice for anyone following in my tracks: The "coastal route" is flat as a board, but the "old railway route", somewhat counterintuitively, should be called the "OMG hills!" route.


My mudguards finally arrived in Auckland, so I've directed them to be forwarded to me here in Nelson; I'm also expecting the phone charger I foolishly left in Wellington, and the replacement gear shifter I asked a bike shop to order in. As of today, though, none of those have arrived. Hopefully they arrive tomorrow, because I'm not sure what to do if they haven't.

Day 19: Renwick to St Arnaud

Distance: 92.2k
Distance so far: 1,160.6k
Speed: 16.4k/h
Runkeeper log: 1

As you might guess from the nature of today's log, I opted not to spend the extra day in Renwick and tour the vineyards; there'll be time for that when I come back through this area after visiting Nelson.

A new record for distance for me today as I cycled just over 90 kilometers. In doing so, I gained about 700 meters of elevation, but the gain was extremely gradual - all but 200 meters of that was spread more or less evenly over the entire journey, making for a very gentle gradient indeed, though it was noticeable in the lower gear and lower speed I had to keep to for the day.

The forecast for today was rain in the afternoon, so I set out nice and early, getting on the road at about 7. There's practically nothing on the road, either, so I made myself breakfast before leaving, and took some lunch with me.

Defying the forecast, it started drizzling lightly almost immediately, and it kept drizzling on and off for the first half of the journey, adding a touch of misery to an already fairly dull journey. A little after the halfway mark, the drizzle devolved into outright rain, and I spent the second half of the trip dripping wet.

The road started to climb substantially about 10k from the end - though since my phone had died some time earlier, I didn't know exactly how far from the end I was - and levelled off after about 3k. The last couple of km were blessedly downhill, bringing me into St Arnaud at about 1:30.

I'm staying at the Alpine Lodge, who have a backpackers' in addition to their standard accommodation. The "Backpackers' Chalet" is reasonable, but a bit steep for what you get. At $69 for a private room it's more than the other places I've stayed at, and they nickel and dime you on top of that. Sheets are supplied, but you have to make your own bed, it's $2 for a towel, and they give you a token for the shower, with extra showers costing $2. I did manage to convince the friendly receptionist that since I was paying for a room that sleeps 2, I should get 2 shower tokens, however.

Tomorrow I'm headed for Nelson, an 89 kilometer ride, almost as long as today's. In its favor, though, are two things: It's mostly downhill, in a similar manner to today's gradual climb; and I have the much more bustling and interesting Nelson, and a rest day, to look forward to at the end of it.

On the down side, the forecast is now for rain tomorrow morning as well. I was already planning a later-than-usual start tomorrow so I can get breakfast here; it looks like I may have to procrastinate a little further to avoid the worst of the rain before I set out.

Day 18: Picton to Renwick

Distance: 45.1k
Distance so far: 1,068.4k
Speed: 19.2k/h
Runkeeper logs: 1 2

Time to get started on the South Island! Today I caught the ferry from Wellington to Picton, then set out from Picton for my destination for the night, Renwick. Renwick is right in the heart of Marlborough's wine country, surrounded on all sides by wineries.

I was first off the ferry at Picton, with myself and the other bike riders positioned right at the front of the hold. Watching the enormous steel doors gradually lower was rather impressive.

The ride out from Picton was a real joy, except from the traffic. There's a short hill to get out of Picton, and then it's more or less flat the whole way, though it felt distinctly like a slight downhill. I cruised along between 25km/h and 30km/h, putting in next to no effort and enjoying the day and the scenery. Traffic was initially pretty heavy, but there was a shoulder most of the way, and the traffic lightened as the ferry emptied out.

Because if you don't you're going to have some mansplaining to do!

I stopped just outside Blenheim at Annie's, where I had a tasty toasted sandwich and a coffee, and picked up a couple of delicious fruit leathers, then continued on through Blenheim, where I made the turnoff to Renwick.

This area is truly saturated with wineries; there's often fields full of grapevines on both sides of the road, and there's plenty of places to go for wine tastings. I stopped off at a couple - Cloudy Bay and Fromm - and the wines were interesting, but none were so amazing I felt compelled to order some to send back home.

The next leg of the trip is west along the inland route to St Arnaud, but I'm considering staying an extra day here and doing a tour of the wineries. Another consideration is that my phone is on its last legs - it refuses to charge from anything except the official AC adapter, and is convinced it's charging even when it's not - and I foolishly left the charger in Wellington. Not having a phone is really going to put a dent in things since I'm using it both to track my progress and as my primary means of Internet access, so taking a day off would allow me to visit Blenheim and pick up a cheap Android alternate phone. I'm incredibly frustrated I have to do this, but getting angry at the phone doesn't seem to make any difference.

Day 17: Wellington

Distance: 45.5k
Distance so far: 1,023.3k
Speed: 15.5k/h
Runkeeper log: 1

As you might guess from the title and timing of today's post, I ended up taking the bus from Wanganui to Wellington, following the advice of several people who told me cycling parts of the road to Wellington was taking my life into my hands. Surveying the road from the bus along the way, I'm not inclined to disagree.

I'm a bit disappointed at having to compromise on my 'end to end' goal once again, but on the bright side it's gained me two days that I can spend doing more interesting and exciting things, like exploring the Nelson and Marlborough area.

Today I went out for a ride around Wellington's shoreline - and it has quite a bit of it. The Lonely Planet cycling guide has quite a nice suggestion for a loop, and I largely followed that. The shoreline segment was about 30km long, almost entirely flat, and passing along some lovely coastal scenery along the way. Even so close to town, traffic on most of the roads was very light, making it an all around pleasant ride and a nice way to spend the day in Wellington.

Once I'd completed the shoreline segment, there was a long but gradual climb up Happy Valley Road - nearly 5k long - followed by a much faster, windier descent back into central Wellington. This was mostly pleasant, except when an inattentive motorist cut me off and nearly ran me over in his rush to get onto the motorway onramp. I swore loudly, which attracted a bit of attention, from everyone except the motorist himself.

The ride back to the place where I'm staying was a bit of a slog, ascending Ngaio Gorge Road and then Cockayne Road, both of which are much steeper than Happy Valley Road - in some places so steep that my lowest gear started to feel a bit insufficient.

With that, the North Island part of my tour is done; tomorrow or the next day (I haven't decided for certain yet) I'll get on the Interislander and catch the ferry to Picton, and start my South Island trip. Tonight will be spent planning out exactly where I'm going and where I'll stay along the way.

In a way, as much as I've enjoyed the North Island, it's felt like something I was doing simply in order to be able to get to the South Island. Most people claim that the South Island is a better and more enjoyable place to ride for the most part, and I'm inclined to agree with them. I'm really looking forward to getting started on it.

Also, a major milestone: I've now cycled over 1000 kilometers in my NZ tour! Woohoo!