A Ride With the Elements

Yesterday marked our first true day of riding. We started out in Havelock and headed 75km west to Nelson. Mike, the guy who joined us off the ferry in Picton, joined us for another day. So after packing up our gear and eating a large oatmeal breakfast, the three of us headed off. The day started out grey and sprinkling with threats of more rain to come from the weather reports. However, the rain quickly stopped and the grey morning weather quickly turned into bright shining afternoon sun. We approached our first of two large hills for the day... after a slow gradual uphill, the road suddenly started climbing to a 220m. summit. I sure wish I had three gears on my front crank. It is a lot more difficult riding up hills with a giant load on the rear (hmmm... what can I shed off?). However, the downhill was fun. A little over 5 km. of coasting and then we stopped under a large shady tree for some peanut butter and banana sandwiches (Mmmm.). Another biker, Alan, from New York happened to be following the same path, so he joined us for lunch and a nice afternoon break.

After refueling, we set out for the second large hill, this one climbing to a height of 350m. over 7km. Unfortunately, my bike did not grow a third front gear during lunch so I cranked away with the smallest gear I could find. Not only was the sun beating down, but now the wind picked up its pace. As we reached one steep point on the hill, our bikes moving along at snails pace, the wind practically blew us off the road!! The blazing semi-trucks added to the windy nightmare and we soon learned to stop on their approach. At last, we reached the top and had a beautiful winding path down the mountain. I could appreciate the spectacular hills surrounding us on the way down... it is harder to appreciate at the top. At the bottom of the hill we stopped at a small store for some ice cream (Mmmm.) and some shade (Ahhhh.) We then finished our last 15 km. of flat road into Nelson. As we approached town, we rode along the shore of Tasman Bay and could see outlines of mountains in the distance across the water. A beautiful finish to the day.

We reached Nelson and stayed with a family that Megan had been in touch with. Ben, the 14(ish) old son, was very welcoming and gave us a cold drink and showed us the way to a much needed shower. Afterwards, Diane, the mother came home and offered to make us dinner. She insisted we go walk around town and enjoy ourselves until she was finished with dinner, so we wandered around Nelson and made our way through the cute town, up to an 1850's church, and then meandered across the Queen's Garden before heading back for what turned out to be a feast! I ate venison sausages, a huge mound of rice, and a bigger mound of curried vegetables. They were very generous with the portions. After the meal, Ben showed us some of his favorite humorous flicks and we chatted with Dominique, another visitor from Switzerland. Meanwhile, as I thought I could never eat again, Diane continued preparing us Banana shakes and Brandy Snacks (A favorite cookie treat of theirs). I was stuffed and exhausted and soon fell fast asleep.

Today we are on our way to Marahau. We've made it 50km. and only have a breif journey to go. Along the way we stopped at a berry farm for a blueberry snack and a real fruit ice cream cone (they mix in real berries - it was FANTASTIC!!) We also stopped at an inlet of the Tasman Bay. We had passed many rock formations that people made on the bottom of the bay during low tide and we decided to make our own. As we were making our giant smiley face in the bay, Mally cut her foot on the sharp bottom floor. Luckily, it was a minor thing. However, when I went back to finish the smiley face, the water was quickly approaching our work of art! By the time I finished it was covered with a thin layer of water and is surely lost under the Bay right now. Hopefully some people will enjoy it at low tide tomorrow. Well, on to Marahau...