Last cycling trip on South Island – Ferry to Wellington next

Today, May 2nd, I’m cycling up to Picton and the ferry that will take me to the North Island and Wellington. My schedule is tight, if that fails I’ll hop into a hotel in Picton.

Starts early in the morning, totaly alone in kitchen and it seems to be a nice cycling trip today, no rain and wind. Only one way out of Nelson. First 20 km easy cycling, then a climbing for 6-7 km. The road following the mountain and it’s winding, rolling to hilly rather than mountainous.

First part of ther road flat

The scenerys is overwhelming, my goodness what a road to cycle, hard to describe

The road was quite narrow and winding in places, so I had to stay alert for campervans and drivers cutting corners.

Rainforest-like vegetation on the left and a steep cliff on the right.

After lunch I decided to camp for the afternoon instead of cycling all the way to Picton. Underestimated how tough some of the road was, and exploring the amazing views from the road took more time than I anticipated. Some km from Havelock most of the slopes was gone and I could speed up a bit.

I had already decided on my campsite and a sign before Havelock pointed me to a scenic route, the Queen Charlotte Route.

This route follows Queen Charlotte Sound in the Marlborough Sounds and has many beautiful campsites along the sound. The route is also half the length of the main road following Highway 6.

Momorangi or Ngakuta Bay is my destination for the day and I am enjoying the huge beautiful views and weather. An hour or so later the bays were one after the other and almost begging me to stop for the night.

Ngakuta Bay lies below, and finding a beautiful spot on the cape should be easy.

Ngakuta bay and my campplace for today

I pitched my tent a few hundred meters outside the campsite, as joining the campsite was quite expensive. After pitching my tent, I skipped down to the beach with giddy delight for a much-needed and gloriously splashy bath and some should call my behavior  like a labradors delight in water.

Tomorrov only 20 km easy cycling to Picton and the ferry boat over to North Island and Wellington, the capital of NZ.