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**saralou** · #1 19 Mar 2018

It was still pretty early, but we went to the dock to check in and hang out on this glorious sunny day.

IMG_1991 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

North Island NZ 1-102 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

They load the trucks first and then the bikes. There are some sketchy dirty ropes to tie the bikes with as we had been warned and we were glad we had some the the BMW tie downs from the shipping with us.

FILE2738 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #2 20 Mar 2018

The crossing is 3.5 hours and the first 2 1/2 are a bit rocky in the strait.

The last hour you are behind the shelter of the coastal islands and travel down a narrow passage to the port at Picton.

The unloading was pretty quick and we headed 28 km south west to Blenheim and the Top 10 Holiday Park that is right on the riverside.

**saralou** · #3 20 Mar 2018

We had a river front spot for the tent and duck viewing. The walk into town was about 20 min and we found a locals only watering hole for a drink and a steak sandwich. There were some very colorful characters here tonight. Once the sun went down it was very cool and we showered and hopped into the sleeping bags. Despite being near the highway and the bridge it was pretty quiet all night.

FILE2765 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

NZ South Isand-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #4 20 Mar 2018

Today’s ride 208 km to Hanmer Springs via the Molesworth Station road. The Molesworth is said to be the largest station in the southern hemisphere.

First you ride 23 km south to just north of Seddon to the access road to the Awatere Valley.

Screen Shot 2018-01-26 at 20.53.22 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE3108 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The first 30 km of the Molesworth road are paved and then it is a good gravel road until 2 km from Hanmer Springs. The Awatere Valley road passes thru the Molesworth station itself.

FILE3190 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #5 20 Mar 2018

There is very little traffic since the coast road SH1 has opened again this week after being closed in 2016 after the Kaikōura earthquake. We had 3-4 oncoming large trucks, which hurl towards you at 80 km/h in a massive dust cloud and can be a bit scary. We did not come up on any vehicles and thus did not have to eat anyone's dust. The road is in good condition and we can travel at speed except on the tight corners for fear of oncoming traffic and the poor performance of the Shinkos in loose gravel.

FILE3192 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE3199 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE3268 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE3278 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE3299 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE3313 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE3318 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

NZ South Isand-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #6 20 Mar 2018

It was a pretty hot day. We left about 1030 when it was 24, but by Moleswoth Station 100 km later it was 29. We stopped here for a snack in the shade at a picnic table.

FILE3329 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE3408 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE3411 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

FILE0010 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

NZ South Isand-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #7 20 Mar 2018

Arriving near the town we chose the maintained Jack’s pass road and arrived to the camp spot at 3 when it was 31 degrees!

FILE0036 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We did a bit of a walk about this cute village and bought some supplies. We noted that the forecast has changed and now they call for rain starting at 5 am and so we packed up as much as possible and went to bad after a beautiful cloudless evening.

IMG_1999 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

It was indeed raining briskly at 630, but there was a break just after 830 long enough to get the tent down and the gear stowed. We only have 125 km to Christchurch today and the rain stopped about 30 km from Hanmer, but we did have a few heavy showers on the way.

Screen Shot 2018-01-26 at 20.55.35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

It was sunny arriving to the city and to Budget Motorcycles Spares where we had arranged for tires. Very nice guys here and professional work. They even charged us less than the quote and all said this was about 400$ cheaper than the tires in Wellington. Everything is expensive in NZ. A pint is 9$!!!

IMG_2013 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

We had been invited to the home of Neil and Lorraine a UK couple living here. Neil met us in town and guided us to a spot for lunch and then set us up in their air B&B suite=sweet.

IMG_2062 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

IMG_2063 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

NZ South Isand-18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr