TA Day 17 - Wellington to Havelock

 ~90km ferry, 23.3 miles, 1850’ climbing

Lodging: Havelock Holiday Park cabin

Windy

We woke early to head to the Bluebridge Ferry while it was still dark, and quickly headed out to the ferry terminal. It was very windy. We were able to get coffee and a pastry from a local shop before boarding. We met a few other TA riders, including one who crashed near the Bridge to Nowhere and is now driving a support car for friends due to having hurt his shoulder. The 3.5 hours on the ferry passed quickly, and it felt good to have a break from morning riding. We took our checkpoint photos in Cook Strait, and disembarked with a bit of chaos typical of ferries.

After the ferry docked in Picton, we stopped for an early lunch and repacked our daypack contents into our bikes. Picton is part of the famous Marlborough wine growing region, but there were no vineyard stops in our schedule. We headed west. 

At a lookout, there was a sign telling the Māori story of how a large canoe, a waka, paddled from far away, capsized on the shores here. The intricate designs carved into the bough split apart the hull, and the partially submerged boat formed the hills and inlets of the Marlborough shore line. Very poetic.

The strong wind made our short ride hard. In some  inlets, a lot of boats (yachts?) were anchored, and we considered which ones we’d like to stay on. It’s the shortest ride of our trip so far, but we were happy to stop in Havelock, the Green Mussel capital of New Zealand. We had a taster plate of green mussels with our dinner at the Green Mussel Cafe.