Jan 19th

Note Cook Strait is only 14 miles at its narrowist.
Last night wandered around Blenheim before having a delicious Chinese meal. The NZ know how to eat and we have been impressed with the choice of places to eat, even in quite small towns. They do tend to close fairly early eg at 9pm but that is certainly late enough  for us. In the middle of Blenheim is Seymour Square gifted to the town 150 years ago.The main feature is a War Memorial clock tower commemorating the dead of World Wars 1 and 2, Korea, Malaysia, Borneo. Burma, South Vietnam and as an apparent after-thought Japan 1946 - 1948; we can only assume that NZ took part in a peacekeeping operation in Japan after the war and soldiers died there of accidents or natural causes. The influence of the mother country still apparent with a bench dedicated to Princesss Diana 'our English rose'!
Had a leisurely start as only 28 miles[in fact it was 35!], so went to a greasy-spoon cafe and Jeff had 3 obscene- looking sausages and eggs and Linda had a more modest bacon sandwich. Quite delicious but not very wise as spent the next 3 hours burping merrily. Wind today either easterly or westerly but not against us. Parts very hilly - we crossed the Welds Pass which was long and steep. Cycled between fields of vines - Mount Riley, Riverland and many other brands. Stopped beside the Awatere River and watched 3 Black Swans - smaller than the British Mute Swan.
In the distance for the whole of today's ride we could see the Blue Mountain[2051m], the top snow-covered and as the light changed so the mountain changed, sometimes blue and sometimes black; it was like a sinister presence always with us in the background. Finally arrived at Ward, population 200 with 2 eateries thankfully one where we stayed at the East Coast Inn. Sat outside our room and enjoyed the sunshine [about 30c]. We had a great meal and enjoyed watching the locals enjoy their Tui beer - not for them poncy bottles they had it out of the tap in jugs!

Jan 18th

Whizzed down the hills from our B and B and arrived at the Interislander Ferry Terminal within 10 minutes. Sunny but cool breeze. We were the first on the Arahura [ Pathway to Dawn] which carries 100 cars, over 1000 passengers and up to 60 railway waggons.  We hitched our bike up next to another bike of a Brit and had a great 3 hour ferry journey. The sea was calm unlike an incident some years ago when the journey took 40 hours during a violent gale. We crossed the Cook Strait reckoned to be on a bad day one of the roughest stretches of water in the world but hard to imagine on such a benign day as today. We could see South Island clearly from Wellington and much of the journey was in the protected waters of Wellington bays or the Queen Charlotte Sound on South Island. As we approached Picton our destination in South Island we sailed along the narrow sound which is heavily wooded with tiny villages clinging to the shore. Picton at the head of the sound looked like a scene from the Mediterranean.
We were first off the ferry and after the first 3/4 miles of hills we had a gradual descent to Blenheim, although battling all the time against a strong southerly wind. The pass we cycled down was also heavily wooded until nearer Blenheim when we cycled beside a swamp with thousands of seemingly dead trees - were they Mangrove trees and if so why no leaves on them in the middle of summer- answers on a postcard please! The effect of these trees was surreal and slightly sinister.
As we approached Blenheim we are now in Marlborough County we cycled past fields of vines in rows as one sees at Chilford Hall, Linton and in northern France but not in Cyprus. Found our motel easily enough in Blenheim and now looking forward to a glass of the local red!

Jan 17th

Staying in a lovely B and B with Jennifer who has played the piano for 4 hours a day for 20 years at Kirkaldie and Stain [NZ equivalent of Harrods]. She must be in her late 70s but is a mere youngster compared to another lady member of staff[ perfume counter] who is 86! Jennifer's house is literally round the corner from Sue's where we had a delicious meal last night including a wonderful Pavlova [ apparantly OZ and NZ each claim to have invented it and continue to argue to this day]. One of the benefits of cycling is of course that you can eat what you like and as much as you like. After breakfast Sue collected us and took us to see the sights of Welly. However we started at the Te Papa Museum - a celebration of NZ heritage, European, Maori and Pacific Islanders; a true treaure trove full  of interesting exhibits and oral histories. The visit will help us understand some of the Maori signs and cultures we see and experience. As with so many museums today it was interactive even for adults and there were a lot of children about clearly enjoying themselves. Then from the sublime to the ridiculous we went to Weta - the production home of such films as Avatar, Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. Linda rushed around like a headless chicken snapping away as some of you will see when she forwards them on to you! Peter Jackson the film director  was born just outside Welly and is something of a cult -figure here. We then drove around Welly harbour, a cruise ship was docked, and we saw the ferry from South Island which we will be catching tomorrow. Drove to a very high spot and enjoyed some spectacular views over the city with the mix of colonial and more modern buildings. Had lunch outside the city at a restaurant frequented by the actors of the film just mentioned. We parked next to a sign' Beware blue penguins' but alas did not see any.Drove up to a wind turbine and experienced an incredible sky-line, full of menacing cloud producingan extraordinary still light; just able to take in the scene before the heavens opened and it rained like hell. Dropped down into the city and saw the parliament building called the Beehive designed by Sir Basil Spence - apparently a controversial design but we liked it; the Supreme Court which looked like a prison which we did not like and the University. Finally a brief visit to Zealandia Park which has a 500 year plan for conservation! Sue had really thought out our itinery and we thoroughly enjoyed our day and found Wellington surprising and not at all what we had expected.

Jan 16th

Poured with rain all night but apart for a few drops we escaped the rain again. Cycled into Levin at 7am to discover that the only train into Wellington today  had left an hour earlier! Had a bacon sarny and coffee and set off - the road was flat but the traffic intense and so we concluded that the only safe way into Wellington [Welly] was by train when we could find one. Finally we got to Waikanae after about 25 miles and was told that the train would be along in 20 minutes; Jeff went off to get some food not realising his watch was 10 minutes slow, arriving back at the station to find a frantic Linda and a train waiting to go! Train took us along the Tasman Sea coast and our journey whizzed by as various passengers engaged us in conversation. A number of silly incidents - Linda 'why are you wearing your cycling gloves with the pads on the back of your hands, surely they should be on the palms?' Jeff had only been wearing the gloves on back to front for 2 years! We came across 2 bridges today which were too narrow to cycle across so we were directed on the first one to the 'cycle path' which was so narrow that it was impossible to cycle across; the second bridge we were directed under the bridge and we cycled happily along until uggh - a farmer had driven his slurry cart directly across the cycle path which was 4 inches thick with s--t. We came to an abrupt halt.Jeff 'any suggetions?', Linda 'well we are not walking through that', so we cycled through it and will have the tide mark on our tyres for some days. As Linda will tell anyone interested and without prompting it is difficult to find somewhere to go to the loo if you are a woman cycling in the open countryside. A well-known English cyclist and writer, Josie Dew, solves the problem by squatting under her cape. However Linda decided to plunge behind a bush only to impale a long twig in her left ear; she emerged without hearing in her left ear and subsequently consulted a doctor in Welly who confirmed she has perforated her ear drum - ouch!
We cycled from Ngaio station in Welly to Sue Wilton's house and it was great to see her again. The last time we saw her she stayed with us in Clare in 2004. Sue was an old friend of Christina's in London in the 1960s when she worked as a nurse. Sue's house in Ngaio[ pronounced Naio] is close to the district of Wilton named after her great uncle who owned that area of Welly many moons ago. Sue is a 6th generation New Zealander. Her house like most houses in Welly is on a steep slope and the views are fantastic with a wide panorama over the city of Wellington which is full of trees and vegetation. She has her own semi-tropical garden which one could overlook from the sitting room. Wellington is built on a series of tree-covered hills and is very beautiful.

Jan 15th

Set-off at 6.30am as long day ahead. First 20 miles were hilly and then it was more or less flat for the next 54 miles, by far the most miles we have ever cycled together in a day and arrived in Levin at a time not dissimilar to a day of only 50 miles.
Stopped after 20 miles for our first coffee of the day at the Long Black  Coffee Cart - see Facebook for weekly coffee tips.He had given up being responsible for Auckland University computers for an alternative way of life and he made great coffee. We tried to educate him about Costa Coffee! Another customer told us of the seamier side of life in Wanganaui as there are gangs in the suburbs who fight with Pit Bull terriers, which may account for signs we have seen in a number of towns banning dogs in the town centres.
Stopped for another coffee some miles later in Bulls ['no udder town like it' where anything is Poss a Bulls' - you couldn't make this up  -we read these messages on road signs as we entered the town!] The owner of the cafe was married to a farmer with 6,000 acres and they deliver twice a year 3,000 live cattle to China! There we ate the most delicious sausage rolls which are about 2 inches thick and 4 inches long with a thin pastry covering - quite splendid with tomato relish; we have seen them everywhere but had not tried them until today; they make the UK sausage roll seem a very poor country cousin.
Now booked in to the Mountain View Motel. Just had dinner nearby where the waitress attempting conversation said her mother's family were from Scotland - when asked where in Scotland she replied 'up the top somewhere cold and wet!'

Jan 14th

Poured with rain all night so all day we wore our wet weather gear but it only started to rain as we cycled into Wanganui. Given a great send off by our hosts with Ron insisting on taking our photos. Then embarked on our most difficult cycling day ever anywhere. It was incredibly hilly, long and steep hills. a long run down into the next valley and then up up a long hill to top of valley and so it repeated itself for hour after hour. There were no settlements, no cafes. nothing for 55 miles. We had to call at a farm to get water to replenish our water bottles. We followed rivers virtually the whole way; there was very little traffic and the scenery was spectacular. Eventually cycled into Wanganui, a pretty town on the side of the Wanganui river and the Tasman Sea. Victoria Street in the centre was by far the prettiest street we have encountered in NZ with some impressive late 19th and early 20th Century buildings. Our accomodation went from the sublime of last night to a backpackers lodge.  We survived but was not quite what we have got used to in that all facilities apart from our shower and loo were shared. Took the bike to a cycle shop as the gears had been playing up and the  back tyre was so bald that Jeff was having diffisculty holding the bike straight which made for some hairy moments descending on wet roads! All sorted very satisfactorilly. Outside our 'lodge'  was prevailed upon by a very large man to let him have a go on the tandem. When we refused he asked if we were worried he might fall off. No we replied we are more worried about the tandem!

Jan 13th

Very difficult morning as we climbed up to 850m [same height as Pachna] to Tongariro National Park with one particularly steep and long hill, by far the hardest hill we have ever climbed. Drizzly weather but the rain held off. Beautiful scenery, Bush country with lots of deer, towering volcanic hills still covered in snow even though it is the height of summer. Stopped for lunch in National Park Village where we met the manager, Lynda from Ireland who gave us all our food and drink as a donation to the Baraka Home which was very welcome as we were exhausted. However the next 20 miles was virtually downhill all the way. Finally arrived at Ranfurly Cottage in Raetihi where we met our wonderful hosts Ron and Allison, who welcomed us with a beer; Allison was originally from Chesham, Bucks and her parents emigrated to OZ when she was 8 under the Assisted Passage scheme; she subsequently met Ron on a trip to Nz and the rest is history! Raetihi very much a one horse town as like so many rural communities is suffering from people migrating to the cities for work. This accomodation by far the best with our own suite.