New Island!!
Trip Start
Oct 14, 2008
1
54
136
Trip End
Ongoing
Blenheim, South Island, New Zealand
Thursday, January 22, 2009
We got the 8am ferry across the cook straight which is amazing as a journey. You cruise peacefully away from North Island but as soon as you leave its shelter, even on what was a very calm day, you feel feel the water get choppy then its only a short time before you sight South Island and begin weaving between the islands of Marlborough Sounds and our destination of Picton.
More exciting than the spectacular scenery, human triumph of charting and navigation, fantastic weather and impressive not being late for the 8am sailing was the PARKING of our VEHICLES on the lorry deck!
To my surprise we got to ride our bikes on the ferry (making my carefully pannier packing in case we had to check them unnecessary). We got to park them just in front of the 44 tonne trucks on arrival. To depart we then got to rumble up the ramp first, peacefully with our 3 fellow touring cyclists leading a medley of roaring petrol engines.
After all the trucks, cars and vans overtook us while we popped into the first post office we saw (though they likely would have over taken us even if we hadn't stopped) we cycled the easy 30km to Bleheim our first amazingly scenic kilometers of South Island.
Everyone we met was friendly, even a man named vince or possibly somone who knew him had painted a building to advertise his love of tits, clearly a uncomplicated country man with no city fussing over the specifics this is the land of the fry up not the champagne breakfast after all.
The hostel we camped in the garden of had kayaks for use. Hannah was keen to go and after a extreme bought of FOMO (fear of missing out) I joined her for a nice evenings paddle and a fairly spectacular display of poor co-ordination from both of us getting in and out but anyone who has seen us getting in or out of the tent would not have been surprised, in fact they might have been but only by the fact neither of us actually fell in.
