Day 1 - Picton to Nelson via Maungatapu
Our plan was to spend a week or so sorting out our lives and our gear and then take a 2am ferry from Wellington, arrive in Picton around 7am and then start the trip off with a 100km ride from Picton to Nelson. After loading up my bike I left my place in Karori at about 12.45am and it was warm but absolutely pissing down with rain. I wore sandals and shorts so that I didn't get my shoes or warm clothes wet, but all of my belonings were in dry bags so I didn't fear the rain. It was the most epic ride out of Karori I've ever done. Soaked, I got to the terminal and was amused to see Julian in quite the opposite state of myself. His lover Laura had given him a ride so he managed to avoid the deluge. I was in high spirits regardless was also pleased to see that the dry bag I got off Facebook Marketplace had withstood the storm. Laura kindly offered me something to dry my face with and then I got changed into some dry clothes. We got on the boat and managed to get a couple of hours sleep.
Once we got to Picton we were both in a zombie like state. Our first stop was a bakery, then a cafe for a coffee, then we got some snacks for the trip from the supermarket. After getting the cashier at the supermarket to take a picture of us with our bikes we set off up the hill through Queen Charlotte Sound, Bluetooth speaker cranking a good mix of tunes (an essential part of my set-up, thanks Rose). There were a lot of hills through Queen Charlotte but we found it pretty manageable. We stopped a few times to clear fallen branches off the road, for which we got some kind looks of appreciation from motorists, as well as a few friendly (and one quite rude) toots as we went on our way. It was about 10am by the time we reached Havelock and we were feeling the lack of sleep. A couple of ritalins were what the doctor ordered in order for us to reach our destination. After that and a snack, and some chats with the locals we were back on our bikes. The traffic had been pretty light up until that point, but we joined onto state highway 6 after Havelock and it was quite heavy which was a bit stressful. Lots of big trucks.
Luckily it wasn't long before we got to Pelorus bridge, where we got off the highway onto a gravel road that would take us over Maungatapu, an 800m maunga that stood between us and Nelson (total elevation gain of 1640m). This track is recommended on the Tour Aotearoa website.
The gravel started off like a dream, it was just us, the sheep and the cows in the sunshine. After passing through a lot of farmland we found relief in the shade of pine forest. Julian said it looks a lot like Barvaria in Germany. We did a few big climbs only to lose it all with again with downhills. Eventually the road started getting crazy steep. At this point the road was more like a 4wd track, and what was gravel turned into massive rocks and pot holes. I didn't think we would actually be mountain biking with our fully loaded bikes. It was extremely challenging and it was so fucking steep. We ended up walking our bikes a considerable distance, even pushing them up was hard. We both got a good full body workout. I was thinking that this year I will probably have the summer abs I've always wanted.
The sun was beating down and we ran out of water but luckily the maunga provided and we were able to refresh ourselves from a beautiful clean stream. We met some friendly guys out on their dirt bikes who advised us about the track conditions and how far we had left till the top. It was 6pm by the time we got to the top and it was an amazing feeling. We took some photos and started the descent to Nelson. The descent was too steep to be pleasurable but we managed alright. Julian said he couldn't believe that it was an official bike track. I couldn't comment about the officiality of the Tour Aotearoa route... Our new dirt bike friends passed us again on the way down and said we only had one more incline before we could sail all the way down the Maitai valley to Nelson.
It was only after doing Maungatapu that we read that it was a grade 4 mountain bike track. However challenging it was, it was a great way to start the trip and now we feel like we can do anything.
We managed to get to black hole for a swim before the sunset and met more friendly people hanging out. Nelson is a good vibe! It was dark when we got into town and we headed straight to the kebab shop for a feed. We were both keen to stay in a hostel because we were both so wrecked but there was no availability anywhere so we ended up setting up a tent and roughing it in the bush at Grampians reserve.
