Picton to Wairoa 995 kms

Feb 01, 2019

So up nice and early to catch the Inter-islander Ferry to the North Island and arrived to find it was running 2 hours behind which meant a concentrated ride to get to our destination before it was too late in the evening. The ferry trip is quite spectacular with many views of islands and bays and peninsulas, so we kicked back for a bit and I uploaded a couple of pics for the days I hadn’t been able to do so in Hornby, that is until the teenagers got on board and slowed things down to beyond frustrating levels so decided to give it a miss until later.

Having 1 ½ days riding to do today and tomorrow we had to keep pedalling and we finally got into our motel at 9.45pm following a reasonably ordinary pie and a chocolate bar for our dinner. We were grateful the road was dry coming in as it had mostly shiny surfaces and road works so a wet ride would have been a very much slower one, but it was a beautiful winding ride and such a shame we missed seeing all of it. It was a battle to keep our visors clear of bugs and I managed to get a thump in the neck with something, I assume some sort of wasp because it stung me twice and riding is good for keeping it cool, but it swells and itches once I’m off the bike. Bugger!

Below are a few pics added since.

Lined up and ready to go.

On the deck on the ferry.

Down the bottom with the trucks.

Mussell farming in several spots as we proceeded.

A typical gorgeous view.

And some light houses.

Last nights’ accommodation:

Jasmine Court Motel

88 Wellington Street

Picton NZ

What a lovely venue and welcome from our hosts. The whole property is immaculately presented both inside and out and even had the air conditioner on to welcome us in. Our hosts generously transferred our booking along for a couple of nights to help us out unlike another we had experienced, they get that their business is about working with customers rather than being mean spirited. Lovely to chill in a one-bedroom apartment with room to spread out and try and get our travelling kit into some semblance of order. This venue will be on our list with our group for next year.  Thank you!