Woke up at 6.45 (as a DOC person was putting a notice on the car saying where to freedom camp in Nelson i.e. not where we were) and felt terrible as I have not been getting enough sleep recently. Maybe pushing too much - no change there then.... I was supposed to meet Elin in Nelson at 11 ish but I called her to find out where she is staying and ask if there was any chance that we could have a shower there. I did not feel great this morning - tired and dirty - and so I thought it would be great if we could get a shower etc. She said that it would not be a problem and so we headed back west of Nelson towards Motueka. We stopped off on the way to get some food from the super market and have a coffee and some porridge. The weather was rubbish again today and so we sheltered under the whale in a kids play ground for breakfast. Cool. I felt better after some sugary treats and some coffee but still not great.
Elin (a friend from the UK that I have been trying to meet up with for the last few weeks) was staying with Netta and Phil, a lovely older couple that she met on a tour in the North Island. They were very welcoming and invited us to join them for lunch as well as having a shower and washing clothes etc. It was great to have a few hours inside when the weather outside was so bad and get clean and well fed. I was hoping to have a good old natter with Elin but unfortunately time was flying for me to be able to get to Picton to catch a ferry to make Wellington for tomorrow. I needed to get there to pick up my Indian Visa on a working day and as it is Friday tomorrow it meant that I needed to be there at the latest tomorrow morning (or else I would have to be in Wellington over the whole weekend). I was running short of time in the North Island now as I am flying out on the 18th of Jan. I still want to see parts of the North Island rather than just racing to Auckland. It meant that I got a lift with Christoph to Picton rather than biking it (as originally planned).
I drive was actually very beautiful. There is a pass which goes from Havelock to Picton along the coast. It is very windy and hilly and so it would have taken me ages by bike but has the most awesome views of the sea and mountains. It is much shorter (30km) than the main route which goes South and then North to Picton (70km ish) but probably takes longer. We got to Picton in just about enough time for me to catch the ferry at 6.05 but I found out that it would be $30 extra to go tonight rather than tomorrow and so I decided to stay and get up at 5 tomorrow morning instead and save the money.
Me and Christoph went for a coffee and to check email etc in Picton. I was glad that I choose to stay the extra day as I heard back from Val and Don from Warm Showers who said I could stay with them. I was really happy about it as I really did not feel like camping and they turned out to be really interesting and fun people. I said goodbye to Christoph and headed off. I have really enjoyed his company over the last few weeks and he has been a great travel companion. I will miss him. A really lovely man.
Val and Don have a fab house with loads of interesting art (mainly done by Val). I found it inspiring all of the art work that Val does and once again how bubbly and interested in things retired people can be. I have decided that energy and fun is not related to age.... more personalities (and Lu and Kim if you are reading this - it applies to you! ;-)). They gave me a great tasty vegetarian meal :-) It was a shame that I could not spend more time with them as they are great characters. I felt a bit bad just turning up latish and then leaving so early in the morning to catch the ferry and also being quite so tired when I was there. Sorry Val and Don if that came across... They gave me a great tasty vegetarian meal :-)
Elin (a friend from the UK that I have been trying to meet up with for the last few weeks) was staying with Netta and Phil, a lovely older couple that she met on a tour in the North Island. They were very welcoming and invited us to join them for lunch as well as having a shower and washing clothes etc. It was great to have a few hours inside when the weather outside was so bad and get clean and well fed. I was hoping to have a good old natter with Elin but unfortunately time was flying for me to be able to get to Picton to catch a ferry to make Wellington for tomorrow. I needed to get there to pick up my Indian Visa on a working day and as it is Friday tomorrow it meant that I needed to be there at the latest tomorrow morning (or else I would have to be in Wellington over the whole weekend). I was running short of time in the North Island now as I am flying out on the 18th of Jan. I still want to see parts of the North Island rather than just racing to Auckland. It meant that I got a lift with Christoph to Picton rather than biking it (as originally planned).
I drive was actually very beautiful. There is a pass which goes from Havelock to Picton along the coast. It is very windy and hilly and so it would have taken me ages by bike but has the most awesome views of the sea and mountains. It is much shorter (30km) than the main route which goes South and then North to Picton (70km ish) but probably takes longer. We got to Picton in just about enough time for me to catch the ferry at 6.05 but I found out that it would be $30 extra to go tonight rather than tomorrow and so I decided to stay and get up at 5 tomorrow morning instead and save the money.
Me and Christoph went for a coffee and to check email etc in Picton. I was glad that I choose to stay the extra day as I heard back from Val and Don from Warm Showers who said I could stay with them. I was really happy about it as I really did not feel like camping and they turned out to be really interesting and fun people. I said goodbye to Christoph and headed off. I have really enjoyed his company over the last few weeks and he has been a great travel companion. I will miss him. A really lovely man.
Val and Don have a fab house with loads of interesting art (mainly done by Val). I found it inspiring all of the art work that Val does and once again how bubbly and interested in things retired people can be. I have decided that energy and fun is not related to age.... more personalities (and Lu and Kim if you are reading this - it applies to you! ;-)). They gave me a great tasty vegetarian meal :-) It was a shame that I could not spend more time with them as they are great characters. I felt a bit bad just turning up latish and then leaving so early in the morning to catch the ferry and also being quite so tired when I was there. Sorry Val and Don if that came across... They gave me a great tasty vegetarian meal :-)
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