Day 15- Rest Day - Drive to Nelson

6 Mar

Today there was a reluctance by us all to get on the bikes for a long ride so Chris gave us an option to drive to Nelson and back for those interested.

I, together with Rob, Steve, Ian and Chris decided to do the van ride whilst Phil and John thought it best to stay at the Bach for the day.

So off we went in the van with reasonable weather with temperatures around high teens. The first stop was Murchison where we went to a delightful coffee shop which had some delicious raspberry and chocolate muffins!

After stopping there it was on to Nelson along the main highway. At this time we saw several TA riders making their way south…. The number on the road is now increasing as the main wave of riders progress along the South Island.

At Nelson we stopped in the Main Street to look for a cafe and the choices were not there. That together with the big morning tea led us to think we might get something better down the road.

Traveling through Nelson I was struck by the lovely homes and general ambience of the town. Something to come back to sometime!

We stopped for lunch at a cafe in Motueka. The cafe food was good. I had a toasted sandwich.

Then rather than drive back along the same route, we took a detour along the TA route out of the Nelson area which once again we were able to see riders making their way south.

Interestingly we met a Canadian couple riding in a northerly direction who we previously met on the Wilderness trail. Funny how things turn out!

We arrived back at the Bach at about 6.00 pm after doing about 470 kms of driving

For dinner we had a entree of fried white bait then bangers and mash with salad and mushrooms then a dessert of rhubarb and strawberries with cream…. All very yummy!

Late this evening a few of us traveled to Spring Junction to make a few calls back to families as the mobile reception is rather poor at the Bach.

Today has been an interesting day with more of the South Island seen

Looking forward to going on a ride tomorrow!