Nelson Lakes map

This is a highly stylized interpretation of the Robert Ridge route in Nelson Lakes, from the display in the Dept of Conservation [DOC] office on Lake Rotoriti. I chose not to ford the Traverse River [braided stream] to hike the left side of the lake, as 3 guys who shared my last night at Coldwater Hut told me it was a thrilling waist-deep wade. Unlike Abel Tasman, this water is somewhat colder.

Sea Kayaking next to Abel Tasman NP and Ridge Top Tramping in Nelson Lakes NP

Enjoying the "balmy" weather on the Robert Ridge Route to Angelus Hut in Nelson Lakes NP. The 60km/hr wind gusts only added to the experience. At the hut I'm sure I saw this guy in a white robe, holding a strange looking walking stick, and wearing pointy hat.

This is an example of a kiwi past-time: bridge-jumping. The bridge is 12m above the tidal inlet to Falls River in Abel Tasman NP. The sound of the guy's belly hitting the water could be heard back in Totaranui. Brought to you by the folks who commercialized bungy jumping.

Below: This brown chicken-ish bird near the tent is a weka. I like to think it nicked my reading glasses. Better story than me simply dropping them somewhere on the beach and losing them in the high tide overnight.

I've been busy doing, and haven't had time to write about anything for a while. I spent 3 perfect hot days doing a guided sea kayak tour of the marine park off Abel Tasman NP. This is a wonderful way to experience the park. The kayaking is lovely but quite tame. I have the benefit of having kayaked before, in both the San Juan and Gulf Islands, off Vancouver, so I'm a bit spoiled. While the kayaking was tame, (more open ocean, fewer islands to explore), you can't beat the weather, a place where you can actually fall out of the boat if you want, and not die of hypothermia. Plus that beautiful Tasman blue green water!

Later, I booked a shuttle ($35 each way) to St Arnauds, to do 2 days' tramping in Nelson Lakes. True to form, Nelson Lakes laid on the full alpine experience. High winds, with 60km/hr gusts and bare exposed ridgetop hiking to a great 21 bed hut: Angelus alongside a glacial tarn. The icy rain, mist and storm clouds only added to the experience. Day 2 involved a dangerous descent on loose rocks to Lake Rotoiti, for more spectacular scenery and tough hiking. Day 3 was a hike out in the mist and rain along the lake shore. I hitchhiked from the road, so didn't have to do the last sodden 4km. I then sat dripping in the Alpine Lodge cafe, inhaling cappuccinos.

Cool.

Another view of Nelson bike path

Final shot, which I took using my I-phone. At the end point of the cycleway, just outside Richmond, if you follow the bike path signs to Moteuka and SH60, you reach Waimea Winery, where you can do some wine tasting among the trellises.

How perfect is that? The Nelson region is the far side of Malborough, which is New Zealand's most famous wine making region. The whites and "varietals" like pinot noir are excellent.

I bought a bottle of Pick and Shovel, a Central Otago pinot noir, on sale in the supermarket for $20 NZD and took it with me on a 3-day sea kayaking trip in Abel Tasman National Park. Golden sand, blue, blue water and sunny weather. A real campaign poster for "Natural New Zealand" the current tourism push, if ever there was one. Still, there is trouble in paradise. Lots of hungry little black sand flies, that like to bite you on the shins.

View of bike path Nelson to Richmond

Another shot of the Nelson Cycleway. It's a fun ride, rolling along the beautiful shore, and ducking under SH6 in places, through tidal underpasses. This means that when the tide is up, you can't use the underpass, but as the tide goes out, it's great fun to ride through the puddles. You ride along the side of the rushing traffic on the highway, and it's another world.

Bike lane on SH 6 Nelson

I arrived in Nelson, a big adventure base in New Zealand, on a dreadfully rainy day. Still, here's the view the day after. This is from the bike lane along Rocks Road. I learned later that this chain fence is historic. I took the photo after riding 18km to the neighboring town, Richmond, along Nelson's Cycleway, which was opened in time to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Horatio Nelson's triumph at the Battle of Waterloo. Hmm. I had no idea Sir Horatio was a cyclist :-)

Inter Islander, not your typical view of the ferry from the North to South Island

I took the Inter Islander ferry from Wellington on the North Island to Picton on the South Island. It was a very odd experience to take my bike aboard. I thought it would be like riding the Washington State ferry, where people are used to cyclists walking on board. Not here, folks. Apparently, I'd paid to be treated like a piece of freight.

I got to the terminal in plenty of time, and chose to pay $15 NZD to wheel the bike on board, vs. fold it up and check it as luggage. It's one thing to load William the Conqueror onto an InterCity long haul bus. I've found all the drivers so far have been very willing to have me set the bike upright in the luggage hold, so it doesn't get damaged during transit. It's another thing entirely trusting someone unseen behind a wall to know that the bike is supposed to stand upright. So I ante'd up the cash, thinking I'd insure peace of mind. Was I wrong.

First, I had to wait for ages, until the very, very last rail car was loaded onto the Inter Islander. Lucky for me I had company: another long distance cyclist, Yves, who told me he lives near Montpellier. Our 2nd companion was a large black dog waiting patiently with his owner to be loaded into a cage for the ferry trip.

Well, after an interminable wait, the dog, Yves and I were waved onboard. The poor dog got stuck in a dark cage, and I know it must have freaked him out a bit. The owner made a big fuss about getting a dish of water put in the cage along with Fido. We two cyclists gingerly wheeled our bikes across huge gaps in the metal ramps, and then had to jitter the bikes over superslick, greasy rails, tying the bikes up in the dark inner recesses of the "rail" level of the ferry. I felt like I was in a German Expressionist movie. Super dark and scary down there. Once Yves and I tied the bikes with some frayed ropes and a couple of dirty blue straps, we had to figure how to get out. Forget about signs pointing the way. Oh no, nothing like that. You had to guess that a barely illuminated sign about midway down the railcar was where you needed to be. OK, in order to reach the stairs leading up to level 4, in the sunlight, where all the normal passengers were, we had to literally step over a whole bunch of arm-thick chains attached to enormous hooks that held each rail car in place. The whole place was as dark as a tomb, squeaked ominously, and walking a narrow path between crushingly large freight cars and metal walls studded with bolts was a trip, but not in a good way.

As if the outward part wasn't enough of a trial, retrieving our bikes at the end was equally horrible. As we were pulling into Picton harbor, there were a bunch of garbled announcements about disembarking. I think I heard bits of a cryptic announcement about getting bikes off. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what I was supposed to do. I took the first elevator I found down to the level 2, car deck, but this was a dead end. I went back up, found another elevator, and descended to the rail deck. When I poked my head through the door, I saw immediately that all the rail cars had been untethered from their cable/hooks. There were a lot more eery squeaks and bangs coming from the rail cars. As far as I could tell, they were about to roll off the ferry, sucking me, my bike and all my gear under as they went by. It was still inky black down here, so I quickly pulled my head back in, went back up a 3rd time, looked around in vain for some official maritime officer type. Finally I buttonholed a guy vacuuming the restaurant, who told me, so unhelpfully, that I should already be "down there" as I was supposed to unload first. Shit, I thought. Now I'm really in trouble. Those rail cars are likely rolling off right this moment, sucking William underneath as I speak.

I rushed back down. Miraculously, the rail cars hadn't moved. I made a dash for it. At the very last rail car, there was a worker using a giant drill to unscrew the last chain/hook. I found William the Conqueror, still tied up, undamaged. No sign of doggie, no sign of Yves, though I think Yves had retied my bike as we'd lost each other in the crazy "up and down" I'd done trying to find the right level of the ferry. I untied my bike, wheeled it back across the slick-as-heck rails, pretending to be tough and knowing exactly what I was doing, and tried not to look down through the gratings at the surf below my feet as I exited to Picton. Welcome to the South Island, cyclists!

For this experience I got to pay $15?!

Hmm. The Inter Islander has a glossy tourist magazine called Onboard. I had picked up a copy in the departure lounge back in Wellington. Last night I read it. They're running a competition to gather "great pictures and stories of your Interislander journeys..." and are offering a $50 travel voucher as a prize.

Alrighty then. I'm really thinking of sending them this experience. Should I be looking for that $50 voucher in my mailbox real soon? Hmm.

Wellywood: things to do on a rainy day

I had one full day to spend in Wellington, before taking the Inter-Island ferry and moving to the South Island. Today's weather was cool, breezy and light rain, so I did "indoor" stuff. First, a visit to the NZ archives to take a look at the Treaty of Waitangi, the 1840 agreement signed by the representatives of the British Government and the Maori, that set the groundwork for New Zealand's constitution. This is the primary document that sets the baseline for New Zealand's ongoing efforts to reconcile indigenous and pakehe [descended from European immigrants] concerns. Unfortunately, the document is displayed in low light conditions, and, not well-interpreted. The Archive itself is in temporary digs, while its main building undergoes renovation. It's a shame, as it would be worthwhile to be able to read the English translation of the document, which is written in maori. This document is to New Zealanders, what a viewing of the Declaration of Independence is for Americans, or the Magna Carta for the British.

Later, I took the city bus out to the suburb of Miramar, to visit the WETA [pronounced WEE-TAH] cave, next to the location of Peter Jackson and Co's SFX animators, sculptors, artists, etc., related to Lord of the Rings, King Kong, Narnia movies, and Avatar. I really had no idea how much work WETA has done. Sort of like a visit to Disney + Pixar, but this company's digs are a renovated paint plant, out near the airport. All very understated. I even got to meet an actor from Avatar: the guy who shot the tree. He was standing at the counter when I was there. He looked oddly familiar, but in a place like WETA, it's really hard to differentiate between the fantasy and the reality. In the WETA cave you can buy all sorts of beautiful and expensive models, things like Gollum and Gandalf, plus you can see previews of the design work being done on The Wind in the Willows, due in 2012. I could have bought a pair of hobbit ears for $52, but I thought that was a little too much.

Finally, I topped off my day by a visit to the movies in Wellywood, seeing The King's Speech at the historic Embassy cinema, where LOTR was first shown. Lots of photos of Frodo and Gollum waving to the adoring crowd.