Blenheim to Pedallers Rest, Ward

A couple of hours this morning and an hour and a half yesterday and the blog is back up to date. Having no done any since Wellington it was nice to logon and see the comments from Stu and Karoline (sitting eating cake indeed!) and Karo's friend Jenny. They (the comments) help motivate me to continue the blog and remind me how great this trip is. Every so often I stop and wonder why I'm doing this - the steep hills, the heavy vehicles, the wind and rain. But then I reach the top of the hill, or pass through a scenic reserve and hear the birdsong, or smell the suedes growing or a lavender farm, or sing at the top of my voice and I know why I'm doing this - NZ is beautiful and I'm travelling freely through its splendour.

From Blenheim it's only 55km to Pedallers Rest but the forecast said southerlies i.e. headwinds, so I set off about 11am to endure the onslaught. I was very wrong. 50km of lovely tailwind more than made up for the headwind over the last 5km. What could have been a very long struggle was a rolling joy through vineyards and farmland. The two steep climbs were made easier and though Weld Pass is a narrow winding climb and I kept an eye on the mirror for trucks, pulling off the road when they came along, the wind whisked me up the hill. The downhills with the added tailwind were even better and I topped 50km/h several times setting, at one point, a new trip speed record of 57km/h!

The trucks seem to come in convoys off the ferry so there's a flurry of them and then very few until after the next ferry arrives in Picton. And the roads seem wider and much less used than up north. One place where the road used to be narrower was the Awatere combined road and rail bridge which has a rail level on top and a single lane road level beneath. The road level has been replaced by a lovely wide two-lane bridge, but now the magic of queuing up to cross the road bridge is gone.

The low point of the day was the public toilet in the rest area about 10km from the day's end. It's a disgrace and is better suited to a Syrian service station than a rest area here. I stopped at the next service station I found and asked them to inform whoever maintains it. it's a well signed toilet and I reckon many tourists would stop there only to get a very bad, lasting impression of New Zealand.

One more uphill and a very quick downhill, with a truck driver choosing not to move over into the vacant oncoming lane but instead rush right by me, and I was at the turnoff for the 1 1/2 km gravel road up to Pedallers Rest. The place is lovely.

I spread my soaked tent on the grass and sat back to read a bit more of my book in the sun. A great end to an easy (half)day's ride.

Pedallers Rest is on a working sheep farm and they make their own merino cycling shirts. I got a yellow and black one (Wellington Hurricanes colours) there being no yellow and blue (Otago Highlanders) and no way I was opted for red and black (Canterbury Crusaders)!

Tonight I've got the place to myself, the National Programme on the radio and the wood stove well stoked. It's bliss. Just the occasional passing shower tap dancing across the roof and the odd branch crackling in the stove. It's the second best place I've stayed, topped only by the railway shelter at the Cross Creek end of the Rimutaka Incline.