It’s been 3 days in a row without incident!

The train ride to Wellington was perfect. After all the excitement, being stuck in a train with beautiful scenery and a glass of wine, I was happy to relax. The commute from the train to my hotel in Wellington was great, an easy ride on a bike path with a beautiful sunset! We hopped on the ferry the next day, ready for new adventures on the South Island.

Beautiful views from the train.

Now time to ride again!

From Picton, it is 115km of pavement taking us to Nelson and the start of the Great Taste Trail. Good thing I didn’t have the lumber jack breakfast. Amazing ride on Queen Charlotte’s drive and some great climbs right from the start. I eat hills for breakfast, but today I had them for lunch too! Sadly, the ride takes us on the highway and that part wasn’t fun at all. Views are awesome, climbs are long and a good grade, downhills are exhilarating, but the lack of shoulder and the heavy traffic were scary. Many logging trucks came too close for our comfort, cars would drive on the shoulder taking curves too fast, the shoulder was mainly narrow or nonexistent.

Nice roads, but dangerous with traffic and no shoulder.

We took the time to have a real lunch for once. We traded the beef jerky for some grilled local mussels at the Mussel Pot in Havelock, very tasty!

Proper lunch at the Mussel Pot!

Very happy with another day in the saddle and planning the days to come. Sadly, no trails for a few days, more road rides until we find more dirt tracks.

Anne-Marie is the owner of Liv Vancouver, the first female focused bicycle boutique of its kind in Canada. An avid cyclist & bike packer, she has ridden down the coast from Vancouver to San Francisco twice, among other exciting two-wheeled expeditions. She is now on a bicycle tour through New Zealand with her daughter Frederique & colleague Kelsey. Visit Anne-Marie’s personal blog here.