Day 2: Blenheim

So the other 2 gentleman joined us a little later last night. Bernie skidded into Turangi spraying vital fluids from his bike as he scattered various important little bolts and hose clamps behind him. Thankfully Dave Mac was still at home doing whatever it is that he does before going anywhere. Usefully he was able to bring all the bits to fix Bernie’s bike with a convenient arrival time of 5 minutes after my bedtime. DM and Bernie fixed things during the night and this morning we were up early to start the Wellington leg to catch a ferry. It was colder outside the motel than inside which allowed me to ride over the desert road fondly thinking of my cold weather jacket and gloves stored in my backpack while fingers and then entire body froze. It’s a cold desert. Beautiful morning though with the sun rising over the Kaimanawa ranges and low clouds artfully highlighting valleys that would otherwise be hidden. 

We were very ready for a hot coffee and breakfast at our favourite little Brown Sugar cafe in Taihape so there was some consternation to find it closed due to a power outage. We found another spot down the road where we were able to have cabinet food that appeared to be only 24-48 hours old. It is adventure riding after all!

After this we had a pleasant and uneventful ride down to the ferry where our only issue was having to ignore Dave Mac’s attempts to make us late by trying to get us to ride on various random roads to keep things more interesting. We got to the ferry with 20 minutes to spare so a quick bite to eat and on our way. 

I write this somewhere in the Cook straight. The South Island beckons. Tonight we stay in Blenheim and tomorrow we will be doing our first off roading. Can’t wait. 

No photos today as it’s not practical to stop on the open road. Beautiful views if one looks, with both the central plateau and the Rangitīkei regions putting on a great show. Oh, and I can’t upload them anyway.